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SILAS DEANE 

CONNECTICUT LEADER IN THE 
AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



BY 

From the portrait by Jared B. Flagg in the Gallery of the 

Connecticut Historical Society. Hartford, Conn. Painted 

from a miniature made in Paris when Deane was about 

forty years old. 



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SILAS DEANE 

A CONNECTICUT LEADER IN THE 
AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



BY 

GEORGE L. CLARK 

AUTHOR OF ''NOTIONS OF A YANKEE PARSON" 



s 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 

XTbe IRnicfterbocftcr iPrcsa 
1913 



DF.6'C^ 



Copyright, 1913 

BY 

GEORGE L. CLARK 



Ube Iftniclierboclier press, mew Korft 



(e)CI.A;!46683 



^0 

WETHERSFIELD 

Home of Sterling Friends 



PREFACE 

*T^HE reasons for a book on Silas Deane are in 
the following facts: he was prominent and 
influential in the movements leading to the Revolu- 
tion ; he was on important committees in the First 
and Second Continental Congresses ; he was our first 
agent to France for the Insurgents; he forwarded 
military supplies, indispensable at Saratoga; he 
commissioned Lafayette, De Kalb, and Steuben ; 
he served as Commissioner with Franklin and 
Arthur Lee, with whom he arranged and signed 
the treaties with France; unjustly recalled, he 
suffered for years from false and malicious charges ; 
reduced to poverty and misery, he died when em- 
barking on a new enterprise; fifty years later, 
Congress vindicated his memory from the charge 
of embezzlement; his life' was woven in with 
critical events; his career was checkered; the 
mistake of his life was serious, the sufferings 
extreme, the fate — a dramatic close of the career 
of one of the most efficient of the men of the 
Revolution. 



vi Preface 

It is high time that the truth were told about 
Deane, in the interests of justice to a man so mis- 
understood and so wronged: because of the Hght 
thrown on critical years in which he was associated 
with Franklin, Morris, Jay, and others of their 
class; because of unexpected glimpses of shadows 
found in heroic times; because the study enables 
us to see more clearly the pillars on which our 
civil freedom rests, and the struggles and perils 
of those trying days. 

In his endeavor to discover all the facts bearing 
on the case, to give all that seemed necessary 
toward forming a fair judgment of Silas Deane, 
and to present a clear view of his valuable services 
in behalf of his country in a crucial age, the author 
has been indebted to the librarians of the Con- 
necticut Historical Society, the Watkinson Library, 
and the Connecticut State Library, and to his 
friend Edward Porritt, for many courtesies and 
suggestions. 

The authorities consulted are the Collections of 
the Connecticut Historical Society; Collections of 
the New York Historical Society; Correspondence 
of Samuel B. Webb; Wharton's Diplomatic Cor- 
respondence of the American Revolution; Life and 
Works of John Adams; Works of Jared Sparks; 
Colonial Records of Connecticut; Durand's New 



Preface vii 

Material on the American Revolution; J. B. Per- 
kins's France in the American Revolution; Lives 
of Franklin, Morris, and Jay; and articles in 
magazines. 

G. L. C. 

Wethersfield, Connecticut. 
May /, 1 913. 



CONTENTS 

PAGES 

CHAPTER I 

Silas Deane a Merchant in Wethersfield — Born in Groton in 
1737 — Graduates from Yale in 1758 — Practises Law in 
Wethersfield — Marries Mehitabel Webb in 1763 — 
Later Marries Elizabeth Saltonstall — Becomes a Pros- 
perous Merchant — How the People Lived in a Puritan 
Village. 1-12 

CHAPTER II 

Deane's Activity in the Political Struggles before the 
Revolution — The Stimulating Atmosphere of Patriot- 
ism — ^Jared Ingersoll Resigns his Commission — 
Wethersfield Sends Supplies to Boston — Deane Sent 
to Legislature in 1772 — Secretary of Committee of 
Correspondence ...... 13-20 

CHAPTER III 

Deane, Sherman, and Dyer Represent Connecticut in the 
Continental Congress in 1774 — Deane's Opinion of 
Sherman, Washington, and Patrick Henry — Deane 
and Others Organize and Finance the Ticonteroga 
Expedition — Formulates Rules for Navy — Serves on 
Committees with Morris, Washington, Franklin, and 
Jay — Discussions in Congress — Deeply Interested in 
Forming a Navy ...... 21-37 

ix 



Contents 



CHAPTER IV 

Deane's Mission to France — Colonists Need Firearms and 
Ammunition — Committee of Correspondence Send 
Deane to Paris — Burdened with the Responsibility — 
Wethersfield Merchant in Gay French Capital — Asks 
for Supplies for Twenty-five Thousand Men — Well 
Supplied with Good Advice — Obliged to Buy without 
Money — Hindrances from British . . . 38-51 

CHAPTER V 

Deane, Vergennes, and Beaumarchais — Romantic Story of 
Beaurnarchais — Arthur Lee's Flowery Talk with Beau- 
marchais — Vergennes a Sterling Friend of America — 
Ingenious Plan of Beaumarchais — Deane Arrives in 
Paris in July — Supplies are Shipped and Tobacco 
Called for in Return — Lee's Falseness Confuses Con- 
gress — Beautiful Letters are Sent to France but Little 
Tobacco — Ultimate Ruin of Beaumarchais . 52-72 

CHAPTER VI 

Deane Forwards Military Supplies — The French Insist on 
Sending Officers with the Artillery — Soldiers of For- 
tune — De Kalb's Plan to Put Bro^lie in Place of 
Washington — Deane's Anxieties and Perplexities — 
Commissions Steuben — Eight Ships Sail for Ports- 
mouth with Supplies ..... 73-91 

CHAPTER VII 

Franklin and Lee Join Deane in Paris — Fitness of Franklin 
for the Office of Commissioner — His Fame in Paris — 



Contents xi 

PAGES 

Early History of Arthur Lee — Lee's Towering Ambition 
— Duplicity — Deane's Resolute Plea — The French 
Wary — News of Burgoyne's Surrender to an Army 
Equipped from French Arsenals — Treaty Signed Feb. 6, 
1778 — Death of Elizabeth Deane . . . 92-109 

CHAPTER VIII 

The Recall — Excitement over News of Saratoga — Congress 
Calls Deane Home to Report on the State of Europe — 
Deane Urges Vergennes to Send over a Fleet — Deane 
Crosses the Atlantic in the Flagship of the Fleet — Com- 
• parison of Deane and Lee — Jealousy of the Latter — Lee 
Poisons the Minds of Leaders in America — Conspiracy 
against Franklin — Deane bears Letters from Vergen- 
nes, Franklin, and Beaumarchais — Deane's Success in 
Paris 1 10-132 

CHAPTER IX 

The Hostility of Congress — A Frosty Reception — Delay in 
Calling Deane to Report — Effects of Lee's Lying Letters 
— Gang of Conspirators — Carmichael and Izard Work 
with Lee — Months of Delay — Forty-two Appeals — 
Congress at Low Ebb — Deane's Address of Dec. 5, 
1778 — Excitement over the Drastic Appeal — Thomas 
Paine Takes a Hand — Morris Defends Deane — Bitter 
Debate — Franklin's Opinion of Lee . . 133-159 

CHAPTER X 

Deane's Second Mission to France a Failure — Morris Sym- 
pathizes — Deane's Anxiety as he Returns to Paris — 
Charges against Deane — Sympathy of Beaumarchais — 



xii Contents 

PAGES 

Gathering Gloom — Deane Talks too Much — Poverty 
and Worry — Fever 160-181 

CHAPTER XI 

Deane's Republicanism Weakens — "Paris Papers" — Nine 
Intercepted Letters — Doubts over the Future of 
America — Gloomy Views of a Discouraged Man . 182-192 

CHAPTER XII 

Deane an Exile in Holland — Comwallis Crushed while 
Deane Despairs — Publication of Intercepted Letters — 
Charge of Bribery — Tom Paine Happy — Franklin 
Loses Confidence in Deane — Beaumarchais' Friendli- 
ness — Increasing Poverty — Jay's Advice — Hard Times 
for the Exile 193-214 

CHAPTER XIII 

Isolation, Poverty, and Misery in England — Illness of 
Jesse Deane — Business Sends Deane to England — 
Benedict Arnold Calls — Animosity Continues — Address 
to America — Charged with Influencing England 
against America — Laurens's Charges — Distress, Hun- 
ger, and Robbery ...... 215-243 

CHAPTER XIV 

Deane's Last Enterprise and its Failure — Plan for a Canal 
from Champlain to St. Lawrence — Delay because of 
Illness — Palsied Limbs and Sinking Heart — Final Ap- 
peals for Justice — Sails from Deal, England, Sept. 23, 
1789 — Dies on Ship and Buried in Deal . . 244-253 



I 



Contents xiii 

PAGES 

CHAPTER XV 

The Vindication — Reports of Death and Comments — 
Charge of Atheism, Post-mortem Slander — Memorial to 
Congress in 1 835 — Charges Exploded — In 1 842 , Thirty- 
seven Thousand Dollars Voted to Deane's Heirs — Ver- 
dict Concerning Deane's Character — In No Sense a 
Traitor, but an Honest, Effective, though at Length 
Discouraged Man 254-271 

Index 273 



SILAS DEANE 



CHAPTER I 

SILAS DEANE A MERCHANT IN WETHERSFIELD 

IN the summer of 1633, venturesome and trying 
•'• John Oldham gave the Massachusetts people 
a little rest, and ascended the Connecticut to the 
little Indian hamlet of Pyquag, a part of the 
sachemdom of the chieftain Soheag, who reigned 
at what is now Middletown, twelve miles down 
river. 

Attracted by the glorious elms, rich and sightly 
uplands, broad meadows fertilized by freshets 
every spring, waters teeming with fish, it is no 
wonder that this pioneer in the following year 
led a band of adventurers from Watertown, 
Massachusetts, and building their log houses just 
beyond the space visited by the spring floods, 
they settled the ancient town of Wethersfield. 

In the autumn of i635,Winthrop tells us, ''About 



2 Silas Deane 

sixty men, women, and little children went by land 
toward Connecticut with their cows, horses, and 
swine, and after a tedious and difficult journey, 
arrived there." 

The next period of a century and a half was 
likewise tedious. Welcomed by the friendly 
Indians along the river, as avenues of trade and 
allies against the dangerous Mohawks and Pe- 
quots, they bought a tract of land six miles square, 
laid out their roads, built their homes, their church 
and fortress, and entered upon a century and a half 
of hard work and peril. There were years when 
no one could be sure that a band of braves was 
not lurking in the forest for months, waiting 
for the right time for the midnight attack. Again 
and again the citizen soldiers marched out of the 
village streets on the Pequot campaign, to Deer- 
field, Albany, for deadly Havana, to Louisburg, 
Crown Point, Ticonteroga, and Quebec. The 
campaign of 1762 ended the long contest known 
as the "Old French War." 

In that year, Silas Deane, a young lawyer 
from Yale, put up his shingle in the town of 
Wethersfield, which, despite its struggles and 
losses, had grown wealthy and prosperous with 
cultivating the soil, manufactures, and a brisk 
shipping trade. 



Merchant in Wethersfield 3 

Silas Deane, son of Silas Deane, a blacksmith 
of Groton, Connecticut, was bom December 24, 
I737» graduated from Yale in the class of 1758, 
taught school, after the custom of his time, studied 
law, and was admitted to the bar in 1761. 

The prosperous town, which was to be his home 
for twelve years, had a population of 2500 inhabit- 
ants, and a grand list three quarters as large as 
that of Hartford. It was decidedly inviting 
to the young lawyer, who saw no necessity for 
starting at the foot of the ladder, but had the 
nerve to marry on October 8, 1763, Mehitabel, 
widow of Mr. Joseph Webb, five years his senior, 
and blessed with six children and a thriving store. 

Squire Deane threw himself into commercial 
life with all his energy, and before long he was 
widely known as a man of enterprise, vigor, and 
good judgment. 

In 1764, he built a substantial house just north 
of his store, and soon afterwards a boy, Jesse, 
his only child, was bom. On October 13, 1767, 
his wife died of consumption, and later he married 
Elizabeth,^ daughter of Governor Gurdon Salton- 
stall of Norwich. 

There was a large assortment in the population 
of Wethersfield during those twelve years, while 
Deane practised his calling of merchant, trader, 



4 Silas Deane 

and politician. It ranged all the way from Mrs. 
Joseph Smith, who paid two pounds and ten 
shillings for a pair of red shoes, to the squaw slave 
owned by Rector Elisha Williams. 

It startles us a little to think that in those days 
of blossoming freedom there should have been 
slaves in a Puritan village; but one in twenty- 
five was negro or Indian, and many of these 
humble people were slaves. The upright Leonard 
Chester owned a "Neager Maide, " appraised 
at twenty-five pounds. Some of the slaves were 
offered their freedom if they would serve three 
years in the army. 

We must not press too far the question as to 
the origin of these lowly helpers. We know the 
origin of the Indian slaves. Long enough the steal- 
thy red men carried terror and loss to the hamlets 
by the Great River. No wonder some of their 
descendants were kept washing dishes and hoe- 
ing com. 

Whether negroes were brought home in Wethers- 
field sloops, odds and ends of human cargoes 
landed in Southern ports, it is perhaps neither 
discreet nor kind to ask. There were New Eng- 
land ships in the slave-trade. Thrifty captains 
left our ports for Lisbon, or the Canary Islands, 
''and a market"; the market was the west coast 



Merchant in Wethersfield 5 

of Africa, and on the return there came a load 
of blacks for the West Indies, Charleston, or 
Savannah. 

While not exciting, there was much variety 
in the life of Wethersfield. A weekly paper, 
The Connecticut Courant, came to town from 
Hartford, four miles up river, after April, 1764. 
There was no post-office until April i, 1794, and 
no stage-coach tmtil after the Revolution, but 
a public wagon went through the town at inter- 
vals of a few days, for the town was on the great 
road from Boston to New York. 

A central feature of the life of the village was 
the church, whose noble meeting-house was 
building when Deane was wooing Mehitabel; 
and in the church he had a prominent place. 
The records tell us that when the society voted to 
"discontinue the present method of lining out 
the Psalms," Colonel Chester, Deacon May, and 
Silas Deane were appointed to arrange the stations 
of those who should carry the principal parts 
of the singing. 

It was at a time when the formalities of religion 
were rigidly required. It was an expensive 
thing to stay away from church. Not many 
miles down river the setting sun one Saturday 
found a man half -shaven, owing perhaps to a dull 



6 Silas Deane 

razor or a week's tough growth of beard, but he 
was in church the next day with a muffler over 
his half -shaven face. 

How much rehgion Deane drank in we do 
not know. His earher letters contain occasional 
specimens of the language of rehgion, but after 
he went to France they became less frequent. 

A wide variety of industries was carried on 
in the town. The first gristmill in the colony, 
"come mill," it was called, was built on Mill 
Brook, a mile south of the village, in 1635. Later, 
windmills were used to grind grain, and sawmills 
were operated by wind and water. "Brick 
mills" prepared material for many substantial 
houses and capacious chimneys with their 
enormous ovens, on Fort Street, Sandy Lane, 
Jordan Lane, Main and Broad Streets. There 
were several tanneries at the time of which we 
write, and Ephraim Williams's account book, 
covering 1746 to 1760, gives an interesting story 
of a merchant currier and shoemaker, who re- 
ceived prices for boots and shoes which seem 
extravagant in our more economical days. Colo- 
nel Israel WilHams of Hartford paid him four 
pounds for a pair of double-channelled pumps, 
and for a pair of double-channelled boots the 
price was fourteen pounds. 



Merchant in Wethersfield 7 

Boots were one of the extravagances which 
the Puritans did not give up: the leather in one 
pair would be enough for six pairs of shoes, and 
those great square-toed casings would last a 
lifetime, and become an heirloom. Captain 
Jonathan Robbins had several pairs of silk shoes 
made for his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, 
and pumps for his son, Appleton. 

When Washington was in town, a guest in the 
Webb house, in May, 1781, he was measured for 
a pair of boots by a first-class Wethersfield shoe- 
maker. 

The "smithy'* was a far more important 
establishment than nowadays, for axes, chisels, 
ploughs, hoes, spades, nails, and spikes were made 
there, as well as shoes for horses and cattle. The 
fuel for the smithy was charcoal. There were 
so many coal pits in one section of the town it 
was called ''Collier Swamp. " 

A prominent industry was pipe staves, mostly 
of oak, put up in bundles or "shooks" and shipped 
to the West Indies for hogsheads or casks for rum, 
molasses, and sugar. 

There was a fulling mill, and a carding and 
weaving mill, though hand-looms wove serges, 
kerseys, flannels, fustians, linsey-woolseys, tow- 
cloth, dimities, ginghams, and jeans. 



8 Silas Deane 

Clothiers and tailors were hard at work, and 
the year Deane reached town Rev. John Marsh 
was credited on Jonathan Buckley's account 
book with ''making one pair Leather Breeches — 
four shillings, sixpence. " 

Hats, too, were ''felted" from the fur of the 
muskrat from the river, and sold in New York. 

Ropes and cordage were in great demand for 
the rigging of the ships made at Stepney, a hamlet 
of Wethersfield four miles below. Hemp was 
raised as early as 1640, and "hemp mills" and a 
rope- walk were indispensable. 

Fish, a leading attraction to the early settlers, 
was abundant almost to superfluity in the river 
before the days of chemicals and sewage. Salmon 
and shad were sold in Hartford in 1700 for "less 
than a penny a pound. " Fishes were sometimes 
piled up on a comer lot for sale: and it was con- 
sidered disreputable for any but "poor folks" to 
eat shad. Apprentices, in binding themselves to 
their masters, frequently stipulated that salmon 
should not be served them as food oftener than 
twice a week. Fish made a first-class fertihzer: 
a shad in a hill of com was as strong a plant food 
as a handful of phosphate. 

The staple crops were grass, Indian com, 
Indian beans, barley, rye, peas, onions, and 



Merchant in Wethersfield 9 

tobacco. Tobacco was a valuable export to the 
West Indies. The famous Wethersfield, large 
red onions were cultivated mainly by the women, 
who were seldom too high-minded to shrink from 
the lowly task of weeding them. Women were 
fond of bimching them ; sitting around a heap of 
fragrant bulbs, they dressed off the butcher, dis- 
sected the doctor, did up the grocer, measured the 
tailor, sized up the shoemaker, hammered the 
blacksmith, and dozed over the minister. 

We wish it were not necessary to mention 
another industry, but they did have distilleries. 
Farmers appreciated the still for it made a mar- 
ket for their rye, and on all occasions, from a bam 
raising to the ordination of the minister, flip was a 
favorite beverage. 

Apples were common after 1750, when orchards 
began to come into bearing, and since there were 
scarcely any winter varieties, the juice of the 
apples could be preserved in barrels, to cheer and 
sometimes inebriate, through the long cold months. 
Cider was displacing at meals the beer, which the 
women had brewed as regularly and conscien- 
tiously as they made rye bread. 

It was a neighborly kind of life the people lived ; 
when farmers butchered, they exchanged spare- 
ribs and quarters of beef and lamb. The common 



10 Silas Deane 

table ware was of pewter; there were no carpets 
in the spare room beneath the gambrel-roof , but 
what furniture there was, was substantial, well 
made, though not always comfortable. The 
cherry clocks, highboys, lowboys, chests, and 
oaken chairs which have come down to us speak 
of a sterling age. 

The food of that time was varied. The Yankee 
cooks were skillful in concocting dishes whose 
mysteriousness would puzzle us to-day. No 
doubt there came upon Deane's table berries of all 
kinds, quinces, cherries, damsons, peaches, arti- 
chokes, grapes, and walnuts, put into all kinds of 
preserves, conserves, pickles, candies, syrups, and 
cordials. He enjoyed peas, turnips, carrots, cu- 
cumbers, beef, pork, lamb, geese, turkeys, and 
chickens. Potatoes had a limited use, but apples 
were wrought into tarts, shrub, dowdy, puff, and 
the celebrated pie. Pumpkin pie was also a famous 
dainty. 

The store in which Deane did business stood 
high, and was reached by five long stone steps, 
one of which is in front of the present post-office. 
He kept a large variety of goods : flour, molasses, 
sugar, rope, knives, Barcelona handkerchiefs, 
sieves, fustian, buttons. In 1765, he advertised 
in The Connecticut Courant a quantity of choice 



Merchant in Wethersfield ii 

brandy, which he was willing to part with at a 
very low rate for cash, either by the hogshead, 
barrel, or keg, also hemp seed at twenty shillings a 
bushel. 

The Great River was a convenient thoroughfare 
for extensive ventures, shipping lumber, barrel 
staves, horses, cattle, tobacco, and onions to the 
West Indies and Europe. Wethersfield was in full 
sympathy with the rest of New England in com- 
mercial activity. In 1760, the first lighthouse 
was erected on the coast, paid for by a lottery 
authorized by the General Assembly. 

In 1768, Captain John Bulkley was running a 
sloop from Wethersfield to the Caribbean Islands, 
carrying oxen, horses, and cows. Trade was 
springing up with Ireland, whither was sent 
flaxseed, then and long afterward a staple pro- 
duction. Flour and lumber were carried to 
Gibraltar and Barbary. Vessels carried fish to 
Lisbon and Bilboa, and brought back wines. 
Lumber and potashes were shipped to England. 
Beef and pork loaded many a sloop bound for 
New York and the West Indies, bringing back 
molasses, sugar, and spices. 

The river was a busy place, and the life of the 
young merchant was far from narrow in his store or 
at the wharves, fitting out vessels, corresponding 



12 Silas Deane 

with business men near and far, caring for his 
large household, attending to the duties of the 
church and the merry social life, in that short 
breathing spell between the Old French War and 
the terrible Revolution, whose thunder clouds were 
beginning to fill thoughtful minds with dread. 



CHAPTER II 

deane's activity in the political struggles 
before the revolution 

TTHE three river towns, Hartford, Wethersfield, 
*■* and Windsor, held from an early date ad- 
vanced views concerning the principles which led to 
the Revolution. Their settlement was due more to 
a democratic reaction against the aristocratic views 
of Winthrop and Cotton as to government, than to 
a desire for land. At first, the river towns were 
governed by a commission established by the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony, but four years after 
the settlement began the people felt at liberty to 
govern themselves, and on January 14, 1639, the 
constitution of the new colony was adopted; 
and into that constitution was written Thomas 
Hooker's democratic theory of government. 

Suffrage was granted to all free men, the princi- 
ple of representative democracy was applied to the 
infant state without reservation, and authority 
was traced to the free suffrage of free men. This 

13 



14 Silas Deane 

famous document, the constitution of 1639, 
marks an epoch in the civil history of the world. 
It put into action for the first time the declaration 
made by Thomas Hooker, in his sermon, May 31, 
1638, "that the foundation of authority is laid 
firstly in the free consent of the people. '* 

Thus, for the first time in history, the delegates 
of Wethersfield, Hartford, and Windsor crystalHzed 
into a written constitution the principles of de- 
mocracy, which for centuries had been slowly 
evolving in England, and later had such splendid 
expression in the Constitution of the United States, 
a constitution which has become the model for all 
democracies. It is the first written constitution 
defining its own powers. With such a past, we 
are not surprised that Wethersfield, in the time of 
Deane, had a keen interest in the political events 
that led to the Revolution. 

Opposition to the Stamp Act was as pronounced 
in Connecticut as in the Bay Colony, and, as early 
as 1765, the Sons of Liberty from the eastern 
towns joined with those on the river in bold 
defiance of the obnoxious measure. 

Jared Ingersoll of New Haven, the stamp - 
master newly appointed by the Crown, met with 
such determined resistance that he was obliged to 
resign his office. This opposition appeared first 



Zeal for Freedom 15 

in New Haven, New London, and Windham 
counties, but, evading the demand for his resig- 
nation, he started on horseback for Hartford 
where the General Assembly was about to meet. 
For a part of the way he was attended by Governor 
Fitch to protect him from insult. On his way up 
the river, when within a few miles of Wethersfield, 
Ingersoll was met by a party of four or five mounted 
men; half a mile farther he was met by a second 
squad, and they all rode silently together until 
they came to a company of five hundred free- 
holders, all mounted, and armed with long, heavy 
sticks, from which the bark had been peeled, 
giving them a resemblance to the staves of office 
carried by sheriffs and constables. This force, 
led by one Durkee, with two fully uniformed 
militia officers acting as aids, and heralded by three 
trumpeters, rode, two abreast; and with quiet 
courtesy, opening ranks to receive the stamp 
collector, they closed silently around and behind 
him. We think we can imagine his feelings, and 
the cool-headed, humorous Tory saw the comical 
side of the affair, for when one of his escort quizzi- 
cally inquired of him what he thought of him- 
self attended by such a retinue, Ingersoll, who 
chanced to be riding a white horse, quickly replied 
that he now had a clearer idea than ever before of ^' 



i6 Silas Deane 

that passage in the Revelation, which speaks of 
" Death on a pale horse and all hell following. " 

Reaching the immense elm in front of the 
Colonel Chester mansion on Broad Street, the 
procession halted, and demanded that the matter 
be settled there. The stalwart farmers would 
brook no delay, and Ingersoll, reading the faces 
of his opponents, said, "The cause is not worth 
dying for," and wrote and signed his resigna- 
tion. He was then persuaded to shout three 
iimes, "Liberty and Property. " After dinner the 
mounted men attended Ingersoll to Hartford, 
where he again read his resignation and the Sons 
of Liberty dispersed. 

Not long after this, the people of Wethersfield 
had an opportunity to show their spirit of oppo- 
sition to the encroachments of King George. In 
April, 1768, the merchants of Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, and New York made a compact to 
unite in stopping the importation of goods from 
Great Britain. The Connecticut merchants kept 
the agreement with more fidelity than those of 
New York, and this led to a general convention of 
delegates from all the towns of the Connecticut 
colony to "take into consideration the perilous 
condition of the country, to provide for the 
growth and spread of home manufactures, and 



Zeal for Freedom 17 

to devise more thorough means for carrying out 
to the letter the non-importation agreement." 
The spirit of the people was manifested in the 
resolutions passed by the town meetings. 

At a meeting held in Wethersfield, December 
25, 1769, it was 

Voted that it is and ever has been the opinion of this 
town that the late acts of Parliament commonly 
called the American Revenue Acts, imposing certain 
duties on paper, glass, etc., are in themselves un- 
constitutional, offensive, and tending to that total 
subversion of the liberties of his Majesty's subjects 
in America ; that the opposition made thereto through- 
\ out the Continent has been noble, just, firm, and 
; deserving of highest applause through every age. 
' That in particular the resolution against import- 
I ing goods of merchandise from Great Britain, until 
said Acts are repealed, so genuinely and unanimously 
\ come into by the merchants in America, and so uni- 
versally approved of by the people, is worthy of the 
j highest commendation, as being the most effectual 
I method for obtaining relief, — Do resolve to abide by 
the same, and as far as possible to prevent the least 
breach thereof by any of the inhabitants of this town 
or others : nor will we purchase nor use nor consume 
any goods imported contrary to said agreement, so 
universally come into. 

And, for the more effectual preventing any counter- 
acting said resolution, we do appoint Messeurs. Silas 
Deane, Ezekiel Williams, Elisha Williams, David 
Webb, and Elias Williams, a committee, directing 



i8 Silas Deane 

them, with the utmost vigilance and care to guard 
against and prevent any attempt to put in execution 
so fatal and infamous a purpose as that of sacrificing 
the good of this Continent and their posterity to pri- 
vate gain and emolument: desiring them to corre- 
spond and consult with, as well as aid and assist, the 
other committees appointed in the neighboring towns 
and elsewhere for this purpose. 

On February 20, 1774, when Connecticut mer- 
chants declared non-intercourse against the mer- 
chants of .'Newport, charging them with infraction 
of the non-importation agreement, designed to 
coerce England into a fuller acknowledgment of 
American rights, Deane was clerk of the meeting, 
and signed the circular. 

Unwilling to wait for the formal action of the 
General Assembly in October, the people of Weth- 
ersfield met in the Congregational meeting-house 
in June, to express sympathy with Boston, which 
was suffering from the Port Bill. Resolutions of 
sympathy were passed, and a committee appointed 
to receive contributions from the people and for- 
ward them to Boston, and the first name on the 
list of contributors is Silas Deane. In October, 
1772, Deane took his place with Captain Belden in 
the General Assembly, of which he was a member 
until two years later, when he was sent to the 
Continental Congress. 



Zeal for Freedom 19 

We look in vain for many exciting incidents in 
the legislation of those years. A large part of the 
energy of the law makers was exercised in ap- 
pointing officers for the trainbands in the different 
towns. It was voted that Deane and three others 
be appointed a committee to receive money to 
be raised by a lottery, to erect buoys and other 
signals on Saybrook Bar. ^ 

It was voted, in 1772, that a horse thief 
should be fined and publicly whipped, and sent to 
jail for three months, and on the first Monday 
of the other two months, he was to receive publicly 
ten more lashes. 

On May 21, 1773, a letter having been received 
from the House of Burgesses of Virginia concern- 
ing the support of the ancient, legal, and con- 
stitutional rights, it was voted in the Connecticut 
Assembly that a standing committee of nine be 
appointed, called a Committee of Correspondence, 
"whose business it shall be to obtain all such in- 
telligence, and keep up and maintain a correspond^ 
ehce and communication with our sister colonies. " 
Deane was the zealous and efficient secretary of 
this committee. 

In the same year, he was appointed on an im- 
portant committee concerning western lands, in 
the settlement of the Susquehanna Claims. 



' 20 Silas Deane 

In March, 1774, the governor of Connecticut 
sent to the Earl of Dartmouth, a British Secre- 
tary of State, a letter complaining of the dis- 
sensions due to British aggression, and of the 
unlimited powers claimed by Parliament, which 
were driving the Americans to the border of de- 
spair; expressing deep sympathy with Boston, 
whose closed port had wrought such distress; and 
while insisting that the interests of the two 
countries were identical, yet calling for relief. 
One of the six men of the lower house appointed 
to confer with a committee of the upper house on 
this matter was Deane. 

. Evidently the young lawyer-merchant was 

giving good account of himself in the colonial 

-A * Assembly, and in the movement which was lead- 

» , ing up to the Revolution; and when, in 1774, it 

was proposed to hold in Philadelphia a Conti- 

' nental Congress, it was natural that Deane should 

be sent on the important mission of assisting in 

the organization of the colonies into unanimity 

/ and efficiency, to suppress disorder, and boldly 

resist the stupid endeavors of the British 

Ministry. 



CHAPTER III 

DEANE, SHERMAN, AND DYER REPRESENT CON- 
NECTICUT IN THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 

nPHE work of Deane on the Committee of 
•■■ Correspondence of the colony was so effect- 
ive, and his reputation as a patriot of good judg- 
ment and devotion so high, that he was appointed 
to serve with Judge Roger Sherman of New Haven 
and Eliphalet Dyer of Windom to represent. 
Connecticut in Philadelphia in 1774. On August 
16 of that year, Deane wrote to Governor Trum- 
bull to find the number and size of the ships of the 
colony, and a general statement of its imports and 
exports. He urged the importance of accurate 
accounts, and added, '*I purpose setting out next 
Monday." 

It was a great day for Wethersfield when their 
able young statesman, in the full vigor of his 
prime, set forth for Congress on Monday, August 
22, 1774. He was thirty-seven years old; he had 
a wide acquaintance with the leading men in his 
own colony, and in the neighboring colonies. A 

21 



22 Silas Deane 

large number of the principal men of the town 
escorted him as far as Middletown, twelve miles 
down the river. His step-son, Samuel B. Webb, 
who was just twenty-one, attended him. Webb 
was commissioned lieutenant-major at Bunker 
Hill, and afterwards, through Deane 's influence, 
he obtained a position on Washington's staff. 
The quality of the training of Webb under the 
eye of Deane is suggested by the charge which has 
come down to us: ''Be master of your pleasures, 
and not let them master you. Let me urge on 
you patience and assiduity until you can be 
honorably advised. Master all the principles 
and movements of the great army." 

They were joined at New Haven by Eliphalet 
Dyer, and at Fairfield, by Roger Sherman, and on 
Thursday, August 25, they reached New York, 
and put up at Hill's Tavern at the sign of the 
Bunch of Grapes. 

In those days, before the lumbering stage- 
coach had appeared, Deane traveled in his own 
carriage, and there is an interesting comment on 
the extravagance which ignorant critics after- 
wards attributed to him in his village career. 
He wrote to his wife that while in New York he 
visited a carriage factory to learn the prices, and 
when he found that it would cost five pounds to 



Delegate to Congress 23 

paint and regild his carriage he denied himself the 
luxury, fearing his money would not hold out till 
he reached home. 

We let Deane tell the story of this expedition. 
Writing to his wife EHzabeth, he says : 

We left the Bridge after dinner, and baiting by the 
way arrived in town at six. Instantly Mr. Bayard 
came up and forced us directly to the Exchange, 
where were the Boston delegates and two from South 
Carolina, and all the gentlemen of considerable note 
in the city in a mercantile way: when we had dined, 
and were passing around the glass, we went the 
round of introduction and congratulation, and then 
took our seats. The glass had circulated just long 
enough to raise the spirits of every one to that nice 
point which is above disguise or suspicion. Of conse- 
quence I saw that it was an excellent opportunity to 
know their real situation. Cool myself, I was not 
afraid of sharing in the jovial entertainment; there- 
fore, after the introduction, I waived formality of 
sitting at the upper part among my brother delegates, 
and mixed up among the gentlemen of the city. I 
found many favorable to the cause and willing to go 
any length. I found they were fond of paying great 
court to Connecticut. We broke up at nine. 

Deane gives an interesting glimpse of Judge 
Sherman, so famous later for his work on the 
Declaration of Independence and the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. He wrote his wife: 



24 Silas Deane 

Mr. Sherman is clever in private, but I will only say 
he is as badly calculated to appear in such a company 
as a chestnut burr is for an eyestone. He occasioned 
some shrewd countenances among the company, and 
not a few oaths by the odd questions he asked, and 
the very odd and countrified cadence with which he 
speaks, but he was and did as well as I expected. 

At that early time, Deane found traces of a 

V spirit, which in later years was to bring him such 

keen misery. He says, "The more I converse in 

l^ the city, the more I see and lament the virulence 

of party." 

Judge Sherman's Puritan strictness was a trial to 
' Deane, who wrote his wife on Sunday, August 28 : 

^ Heard Parson Treat in the forenoon and Mr. Ledlie 
in the afternoon. Mr. Sherman (would to heaven 
he were well at New Haven ! ) is against our sending 
our carriages over the ferry this evening because 
it is Sunday, so we shall have a scorching sun to drive 
forty miles in to-morrow. 

Deane bought some new clothes in New York,\ 
and evidently the assortment was scanty, for he 
wrote, " I am not well suited, but took the best I 
^ found." 

His letters are full of tender solicitude for his 
*^ wife, whose health was evidently frail. He says: 



Delegate to Congress 25 

Pray omit nothing conducive to your health and 
peace of mind. I have been really ill until this after- 
noon, when the villainous carelessness of the tailor so 
awakened me that I feel well. I go hence with an 
additional weight upon my spirits by reason of the 
uncertainty I am in, and remain in, as to your health. 

Still heavier would have been his load, could he 
have realized that he would scarcely see her again. 
She died while Deane was in Paris. 

At Trent Town it was hot. " I was worn, '* he 
says, " anxious, sick, went to bed after eleven, but_ 
could not sleep ; I turned and turned, while Judge 
Sherman, who lodged in the same chamber, snored ' 
in concert." . ^ 

Deane was pleased with the delegates from - 
Virginia and other Southern States. " They ap- 
pear," he says, "like men of importance, sociable, 
sensible, and spirited men." 

We see the effects of their stimulus upon the 
Wethersfield legislator, when we read, "We are 
in high spirits when the eyes of millions are upon 
us, and consider posterity is interested in our 
conduct." ^ 

He speaks of the prospect of unanimity and of 
the willingness to undergo hardship 

in the arduous task before us, which is as arduous t 
and of as great consequence as ever man undertook, or 



26 Silas Deane 

engaged in. I never met, nor scarcely had an idea 
of meeting, with men of such firmness, sensibiHty, 
spirit, and thorough knowledge of the interests of 
America as the gentlemen of the Southern provinces 
appear to be. May New England go hand in hand 
with them. 

Yet with all his admiration for Washington, 
Henry, Randolph, and Dickinson, he is proud to 
represent Connecticut, and well he might be, for 
Connecticut entered the Revolution under singu- 
larly favorable conditions, passing as a whole 
from a royal colony into the revolutionary state 
by the alteration of a few words in the enactment 
of the legislature. In a moment the royal 
governor became the governor of a new state. 

Not so was it with Massachusetts, rent by 
faction, the extreme revolutionists in control. 
Not so in New York, where royalty was strong, 
and the success of the popular party for a time 
doubtful; where wealth, position, and influ- 
ence favored conservatism, and inclined toward 
neutrality. 

Connecticut could act with greater freedom, 
directness, and force. Her trade with the West 
Indies and Europe gave her ready money, and 
furnished a body of hardy seamen. Connecticut 
had for generations been in the fire of Indian wars, 



Delegate to Congress 27 

and through the Revolution General Washington 
turned repeatedly to the governor of Connecticut 
for counsel, men, and means. Governor Jona- 
than Trumbull was the "Brother Jonathan," on 
whom he depended in many a day of stress and 
anxiety. 

Deane wrote from Philadelphia: 

I see the Wethersfield company under Captain 
Chester appeared with honor on a recent occasion. 
This has made me an inch taller, though I am prouder 
as I may say of Connecticut than I dare express: 
not a colony on the continent stands in higher 
estimation among the colonies. 

Congress met on September 7, and Reverend 
Mr. Duche offered a prayer which Deane said 
"was worth riding one hundred miles to hear; 
even Quakers shed tears.'* 

He sketches Randolph, president of Congress, 

as noble and dignified in appearance, and may be 
rising of sixty years: Mr. Henry, the lawyer, is the 
completest speaker I ever heard : Colonel Washington 
is tall, very young-looking, and of an easy, soldier-like 
air and gesture. He does not appear above forty-five. 
It is said that in the House of Burgesses, hearing of the 
Boston Port Bill, he offered to train and arm a thou- 
sand men at his own expense. Colonel Washington 
speaks very modestly and in cool but determined 
style and accent. 



28 Silas Deane 

Little remains of the records of the doings of 

that first Congress. On September 23, he writes, 

"Business is slow from the vast extent and lasting 

i^importance of the questions. " 

\ Deane was elected with Sherman and Dyer 

by the colonial legislature to the second Congress, 

, which met in May, 1775; but, before his second 

expedition to Philadelphia, an event occurred 

which gave him congratulation and praise. 

The first conquest made by patriots was the 
capture of Fort Ticonteroga on May 10, 1775, by 
Colonel Ethan Allen. 

The history of the origin of the enterprise, to 
jvhich belongs the honor of compelling the first 
surrender of the British flag to the coming re- 
public, has been made clear by J. H. Trumbull. 

On Thursday forenoon, April 27, Colonel S. H. 
Parsons of Middletown arrived at Hartford from 
Massachusetts, eager for a project to surprise 
Fort Ticonteroga. This project was conceived in 
an interview which Parsons had with Benedict 
Arnold, captain of a company of volunteers, on 
their march to the camp at Cambridge. On 
that eventful Thursday, Colonel Parsons, Colonel 
Samuel Wyllys of Hartford, and Silas Deane of 
JWethersfield first undertook and projected taking 
the fort. A sum of three hundred pounds was 



Delegate to Congress 29 

obtained from the treasurer of the colony, on the 
personal note of these men with three others, and 
the money was soon on its way northward ; and a 
swift express was sent to Colonel Ethan Allen 
requesting him to be ready with his valiant Green 
Mountain Boys. 

This prompt action of Deane is in accord with a 
letter of his to Ebenezer Watson, of the Courant, 
in which he speaks of some who are too fear- 
ful of spending money, or of losing property. He 
says, "There is no alternative except to submit 
or prepare to resist even unto blood. " 

The success at Ticonteroga gave Deane some 
prestige in Congress, and with his experience with 
men, his energy, and address, we are not surprised 
to find him on important committees. A naval 
force was one of his favorite projects. 

With Washington, Schuyler, and others he was 
appointed to consider means of procuring military 
supplies for the colonies, and with Washington to 
estimate the cost of equipping an army. 

He formulated the rules for a continental navy 
and October 15, 1775, selected and purchavSed the 
first vessel for the service. He was also a member 
of the Committee of Secrecy, organized September 
18, 1775, to purchase arms and ammunition in 
Europe. 



30 Silas Deane 

On December ii, Congress appointed a strong 
Committee of Ways and Means for furnishing a 
naval armament. This committee numbered such 
men as Robert Morris and Samuel Adams, but 
Silas Deane was the chairman. 

On May 26, 1775, Deane, with John Jay, Samuel 
Adams, and others, was appointed on a committee 
to send a letter to Canada. 

Jime 14, Deane was appointed on a committee 
with George Washington to bring in a draft of 
rules and regulations for the army. 

July 31, Deane was appointed on a committee 
with John Adams, Franklin, and others, to make 
inquiry in the recess of Congress about virgin 
lead and leaden ore, and the best methods of 
refining it. 

On September 9, Deane was appointed on the 
committee of nine to import five hundred tons of 
powder, or saltpetre and sulphur, forty brass 
cannon, and twenty thousand good, plain, double- 
bridled musket locks, and ten thousand stands of 
good arms. 

On September 21, Deane was appointed on a 
committee of five, to consider the best means of 
^supplying the army with provisions. 

There were very able men in those Congresses, 
men of the caHber of Thomas Jefferson, Robert 



^^^^: 



Delegate to Congress 31 

Morris, John Jay, George Washington, John Adams, 
and John Dickinson, and it is clear from the 
respect in which Deane was held, as shown by his 
appointment to the above and other committees, 
that he was regarded as in the first class of the 
strong men of the country. 

Fragments of the debates have come down to us 
^^'through John Adams's tireless Journal. 

.:. On September 23, Paine said: *'We have not 
agreed to clothe the soldiers, and the quarter- 
master-general has no right to keep a slop shop 
any more than any one else." 

Deane sprang to his feet and exclaimed: "The 
army must be clothed or perish. There is no 
preaching against the snow-storm. We ought to 
look out that the men are kept warm, and that 
the means of doing it be secured. " 

In reply to Sherman, who said, "The sutlers in 
the last war sold to the soldiers, who were not 
obliged to take anything," Deane replied, "The 
soldiers were imposed on by the sutlers in the last 
war. " 

On October 12, in the debate on the state of 
trade, Deane said: "We must have trade; I think 
we ought to apply abroad; we must have pow- 
der and goods; we can't keep our people easy 
without." ^ 



32 Silas Deane 

This will be developed in the next chapter, but 
we cannot conclude our story of Deane 's career 
in Congress without referring to his acquaintance 
with George Washington. 

On June i6, 1775, Deane wrote to his wife : 

General Washington will be with you soon ; elected 
to that office by the unanimous voice of all America. 
I have been with him for a great part of the last 
forty-eight hours in Congress and Committee, fand 
the more that I have become acquainted with the 
man, the more I esteem him. He promises me to 
call, and, if it happens favorably, to spend the night 
with you. I wish to cultivate this gentleman's ac- 
quaintance and regard, for the great esteem I have 
, of his virtues, which do not shine in the view of the 
world by reason of his great modesty, but when dis- 
covered by the discerning eye shine brighter. I know 
you will receive him as my friend, and what is more — 
his country's friend, who, sacrificing private fortune, 
independence, ease, and every domestic pleasure, sets 
off at his country's call to exert himself in her de- 
fense without so much as returning to bid adieu to 
a fond partner and family. Let our youth look up 
to this man as a pattern to form themselves by, 
who unites the bravery of a soldier with the most 
consummate modesty and virtue. 

On June 18, Deane wrote again to his wife : 

General Washington sets out on Thursday of this 
week. I have a strong temptation to accompany 
him quite to the camp. This morning, Colonel 



Delegate to Congress 33 

Schuyler and I rode as far as the Falls at Schuylkill ; 
our ride was to consult a plan we are forming for 
another bold stroke like that of Ticonteroga (which 
is become my nickname at times). People here, 
members of Congress and others, have unhappily and 
erroneously thought me a schemer; this has brought 
me rather more than my share of business in a 
commerical way. 

He adds with a possible premonition of coming 
troubles : 

I find, however, that he that has the least to do in 
public affairs stands the fairest chance of happiness. 
If General Washington sets out on Thursday, he 
will be in New York early on Saturday, where affairs 
will doubtless detain him until Monday or Tuesday, 
and in that case he will be with you on the Friday 
following. He is no lover of parade, so do not put 
yourself in distress. If it happens convenient, he will 
spend one night with you; if not, just call and go on. 
Should he spend a night, his retinue will doubtless go 
on to Hartford. 

On June 22, Deane wrote again to his wife, 
"This will be handed you by his Excellency, 
General Washington, in company with General 
Lee and retinue." 

On June 29, Deane wrote his wife : 

I hope before this you have seen General Washington 
and friends on their way with health and spirits; the 
bearer of this is General Gates of Virginia, a general 



34 Silas Deane 

' of great experience in war, who leaves an affluent 
^ and independent situation for the service of the 
colonies. You will receive him with the respect due 
to his character. 

On July I, he writes : 

^ I have the fullest assurance that these colonies will 
rise triumphant, and shine to the latest posterity, 
though trying scenes are before us. Tell my brother 
to get his vessel away as quick as possible somewhere 
or other, ... I hope to see vessels of war on our 
side soon. 

Deane strongly favored Putnam in preference 
to Wooster as general; he liked his bluff, hearty 
ways. ''He is the toast of the army," he said. 

On July 20, he wrote Mrs. Deane: 

I am glad the good and virtuous of Connecticut are 
willing to stand by the resolution of Congress in the 
appointment of General Putnam. He does not wear 
a large wig, nor screw his countenance into a form 
that belies the sentiments of his generous soul. He 
is no adept either at politics or religious canting or 
cozening; he is no shake-hand body; he, therefore, is 
totally unfit for everything but fighting; that, I 
never heard these intriguing gentry wanted to in- 
terfere with him in. I have scarce any patience. O 
Heaven blast, I implore thee, every such low, narrow, 
selfish, envious manoeuvre in the land, nor let one 
such succeed far enough to stain the fair page of 
American patriotic politics ! 



Delegate to Congress 35 

My principles are (the eye of my God knows them, 
and the most envious eye of man or the bitterest 
tongue of slander cannot find anything in my political 
conduct to contradict them) to sacrifice all lesser 
considerations to the service of the whole, and in this 
tempestuous season to throw cheerfully overboard 
private fortune, private emolument, even my life, — 
if the ship, with the jewel Liberty, may be safe. This 
being my line of conduct, I have calmness of mind 
which more than balances my external troubles, of 
which I have not a few. 

This we regard as Deane's valedictory, in 
closing two terms in the Continental Congress. 
Associating with men of light and power, with 
Franklin, Washington, Jay, and Morris, he ranked 
with the best. 

The reasons for his failure of an election to a 
third term are variously given. A letter from 
John Trumbull to Deane, October 20, 1775, may 
explain the situation. Speaking of the malice 
and envy of the freemen against him, he adds: 
"We have a strange people here as well as else- 
where, who say, * It is dangerous to trust so great 
power as you now have for a long time in the 
hands of one set of men, lest they should grow 
too self-important, and a great deal of mischief in 
the end.'" 

This brilliant excuse for pushing aside a tried 
and able man that some ambitious aspirant 






36 Silas Deane 

might have his inning is elderly, and not yet 
decayed. 

On November 26, 1775, Deane wrote his wife: 

I am quite willing to quit my station to abler men. 
My long and thorough acquaintance with the genius 
of the Assembly prevents my being surprised at any 
sudden whim, or uneasy at any of their resolutions so 
far as they respect myself, individually. On a review 
of the part I have acted on the public theatre of life, 
an examination of my own genius and disposition, 
unfit for trimming, courting, and intrigues with the 
populace, I have greater reason to wonder how I be- 
came popular at all. What, therefore, I did not ex- 
pect, I have too much philosophy to be in distress at 
losing. I only wish that my friends felt as easy on 
this occasion as I. I should be sorry that you or my 
friends should manifest any uneasiness on my being 
superseded. One of the greatest pleasures I enjoy 
is a consciousness of the rectitude of my intentions 
and conduct. 

One of the last acts of the Naval Committee 
was to direct Deane to go at once to New York, 
buy a ship to carry twenty nine-pounders, and a 
sloop of ten guns, fit them out and send them 
through the Sound to New London for seamen, and 
to arm. 

On December 15, he wrote his wife: "Naval 
preparations are now entering with spirit, and 
yesterday Congress chose a standing committee 



Delegate to Congress 37 

to superintend this department of which I had 
the honor to be chosen one. " 

The last letter from Congress was written 
January 2 1 , 1 776, to his wife. He says : 

Colonel Dyer pleaded, scolded, fretted, and even 
threatened to make me set out for home with him, 
and parted in ill humor. It is necessary to tarry, 
to close the naval accounts and assist in getting 
forward the preparation for the fleet in the coming 
season. 

Connecticut had no occasion to be ashamed of 
any one of her representatives to the first and 
second congresses, but Deane had been in train- 
ing for wider enterprise and a more responsible 
task. 



CHAPTER IV 

DEANE'S mission to FRANCE 

"\ Y 7HEN it was apparent that there was to be a 
^^ struggle between the colonies and England, 
the question which disturbed every thoughtful 
man was, where shall we get the munitions of 
war? There were no facilities here for the manu- 
facture of guns and powder. 

In one of his early letters, Deane explained to 
the committee how the French made cannon, as 
though the industry were new to him and to his 
readers. The muskets first used in the Revo- 
lution were of every variety : plain weapons, made 
by village blacksmiths, useful for killing bears, 
deer, wild cats, and Indians. Agents went from 
house to house to obtain firearms ; and the obstacles 
in the way of securing powder were overwhelming. 
After the battle of Lexington, it is said that there 
was not powder enough in the thirteen colonies for 
a week's fighting, and that English troops could 
have marched from Boston to Savannah with 
but slight resistance. 

38 



i9£l;t io\ aoflfii'? ni asilqqua saBfloijjq oi snBsQ 8£li8 oi noiaaimraoD ^o alimia^e'T 

^fjJoiiosnnoD 9rf;t io aohzeszoq snJ ni won iBnighO rictnh yiBnoiJwIova^ 

.xmo3 .biol^lTfiH .vi-bhr*?. lBDno;t8tH 







CHxU'TER IV 

HF^NE's mission to FRANCE 



V 



rem mai there was to be a 
r. '".r. -olonies and England, 

{ crrry thonf^htful 



Facsimile of Commission to Silas Deane to purchase supplies in France for the 
Revolutionary Army. Original now in the possession of the Connecticut 
Historical Society, Hartford, Conn. 
tactuie of guiis aiid pt 

In 0^ "* ' ' *rly kiiers, i^'cane expia^i.ea i 

^>" •'.-.... -^ .. ?w the Frer '^ r^'-ie cannon, o 

the industry were nc a and to hi 

The muskets t d in the Revo 

' tion were of eve apons, mad^ 

by village blacksmith.-,, uaciui ior killing bear: 

deer, wild cats, and J '- - ' ts went fro! 

house to house to obtaii. ..; .. ... ....... ^ the obstacle 

in the way of securing powder were overwhelming 

After the battle of Lexington, it is said that ther 

was not powder enough in the thirteen colonies fc 

a V. "ig. and that English troops couL 

ha from Boston to Savannah wit^ 

bui . - ' ivico 

38 




h/ //:c .tnlieriinWO.' /'f..,.: ■'■'.. j..'.„ ,., . /Zr* ^t ('' 



■^ l-aiciu, c<rU^,j <o('i'^'^ ./••....., ,-.^.,,..,, . /;..y/ / , , V.,,,, , M-*,.-^-.,^/'. .^-^ 



^^..,:^ .->/-.:,:; ;-4,./^ .».:^ i,:^-.: 



■'-" ^^ 









v^^.,.i ,^ 




^.77. . '^/^/^^'.V'.^^, 



i 




* 



Ai 



v^; 



/'^ ..'/>;^ 



/ 




Mission to France 39 

The Committee of Safety in New York wrote 
in July, 1775: **We have no arms, we have no 
powder, we have no blankets. " 

Whether or not the colonies could have won 
their independence without the aid of France is 
an interesting topic for conversation on the ver- 
anda, on a pleasant summer evening, but there 
are facts which stand out clearly in the Revo- 
lution, and one is that when Burgoyne surrend- 
ered at Saratoga, and such standing was given 
thereby to the continental cause that a recog- 
nition of independence was made by the French 
Court on the following February, the British 
soldiers, as they laid down their arms, found 
themselves surrounded by muskets and fusils and 
a train of artillery which Silas Deane had sent 
over from France. 

When Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, 
the victory was essentially French. The fleet, 
which was indispensable, was French, under the 
lead of Admiral de Grasse; the allied army num- 
bered fifteen thousand men, and after the ar- 
rival of the French recruits who came with the 
fleet, Lafayette had under his command seven 
thousand French soldiers. At that time a man- 
of-war carried a small army; the entire strength 
of the fleet was twenty thousand men, and the 



40 Silas Deane 

marines could furnish assistance for a land at- 
tack, so that we can say that one half the army 
was French. Furthermore, American soldiers 
were kept in the ranks by French money. 
Washington wrote Morris, August 17, that the 
American troops destined for the southern ser- 
vice must have a month's pay in specie. Morris 
made application to Count de Rochambeau for a 
loan of twenty thousand dollars. The necessity 
was so urgent, that Washington's usual calmness 
vanished. He wrote: **I cannot leave without 
entreating you in the warmest terms to send on a 
month's pay at least, with all the expediency 
possible — I wish it to come on the wings of 
speed. " The French hard money put the men into 
a proper temper, and the victory at Yorktown was 
essentially French. 

What has this to do with the mission of Silas 
Deane to France? Much every way. As early 
as September, 1775, John Adams proposed in 
Congress that application be made to Europe for 
military supplies. He clearly saw that it was 
one thing to conduct an irregular warfare with 
the Indians, or a long struggle with French and 
Indians when backed by British arsenals, but 
quite another thing to face the British Empire, 
armed with a few matchlocks bored by the village 



Mission to France 41 

blacksmith. Adams's proposition was rejected. 
''It was too much for the nerves of Congress," 
Adams wrote; "the grimaces, the convulsions were 
very great." Even the almost infallible Franklin 
objected to a virgin state "suitoring for alliances," 
but events ripened fast, and on November 29, 
1775, a committee was appointed by Congress 
called the Committee of Secret Correspondence, 
whose members were among the most eminent and 
trusted fathers of the Revolution. The purpose 
of the committee was to "correspond with friends 
of the colonies in Great Britain, Ireland, and other 
parts of the world. " Provision was made for de- 
fraying expenses, and paying such agents as the 
committee might send. 

The country to which Congress naturally looked 
for help was France, the ancient rival and enemy 
of Great Britain; and the man who was chosen 
for a task, on whose success the prosperity of 
future campaigns so largely depended, was Silas 
Deane. It is scarcely necessary to repeat the 
varied and well-worn phrases of disparagement 
of the object of their choice. It is certainly 
remarkable that men of the caliber of Franklin, 
Morris, and Jay, who had been intimately associ- 
ated with Deane during two terms of Con- 
gress, should have chosen a man for such a task, 



42 Silas Deane 

without the most careful deliberation. They knew 
the difficulties and responsibilities before their 
agent, and the evidence of their confidence is in 
the following commission : 

We, the undersigned, being the Committee of 
Congress for Secret Correspondence, do hereby certify 
whom it may concern that the Bearer, the Honorable 
Silas Deane, Esquire, one of the delegates from the 
colony of Connecticut, is appointed by us to and into 
France, there to transact such business, commercial 
and political, as we have committed to his care in be- 
half and by the authority of the Congress of the 
thirteen united colonies. In testimony whereunto 
we have set our hands and seals at Philadelphia, 

2 March, 1776. 

B. Franklin 

Benj. Harrison 
John Dickinson 
John Jay 
Robert Morris. 

It was no light thing for Deane to leave his 
wife, whose health was frail, whom he was des- 
tined never to see again, and to part with his son 
Jesse, a boy of ten years who had never been 
well, to undertake a mission upon which the 
eyes of the whole country were fixed, and upon 
whose success so much depended. That he felt 
his responsibility appears from his parting letter 
to his wife, to whom he wrote : 



Mission to France 43 

I have, in one of the most solemn acts of my life, 
committed my son and what I have to your care, and 
the care of my Brother, confident that you will be to 
him a real mother, which you have ever been, and 
guard his youth from anything dangerous and dis- 
honorable. I can but feel for the pain I must have 
given you by this adventure. You have in every 
situation discharged your duty as one of the best 
partners and wives, while on my part, by a peculiar 
fatality attending me from my first entry into public 
life, I have ever been involved in one scheme after 
another so as to keep my mind in constant agitation, 
and my attention fixed on other objects than my own 
immediate interests. 

The present object is great : I am about to enter on 
the great state of Europe, and the consideration of 
getting myself well established weighs me down, with- 
out the addition of more tender scenes ; but I am 

" Safe in the hand of the protecting Power, 
Who ruled my natal, and must fix my mortal hour.'* 

It matters but little, my dear, what part we act or 
where, if we only act it well. I wish as much as any 
man for the enjoyment of domestic ease, peace, and 
society, but I am forbid experience in them soon; 
indeed, it must be criminal in my own eyes, did I 
balance them one moment in opposition to the public 
good, 'and the call of my country. 

I hope to sail on Tuesday. May God Almighty 
protect you safe through the vicissitudes of time. 

Deane set out on his journey early in March, 
1776; sailing by the Bermudas and landing in 



44 Silas Deane 

Spain, he escaped the British cruisers. He made 
his way over the Pyrenees, and after visiting 
several French cities, he arrived in Paris early in 
July. He entered upon his mission with caution 
and some embarrassment. Beaumarchais wrote: 
"M. Deane does not open his mouth before the 
EngHsh-speaking people he meets. He must be 
the most silent man in France, for I defy him to 
say six consecutive words in French." 

If Deane was poorly supplied with French, 
he was well equipped with good advice. "On 
your arrival in France," began the letter from 
the committee of March 3, 1776, 

you will for some time be engaged in the business of 
providing goods for the Indian trade. This will give 
you good countenance to your appearing in the 
character of a merchant, which we wish you to retain 
among the French in general, it being probable that 
the Court of France may not like it should be known 
publicly that any agent of the colonies is in that 
country. When you come to Paris, by delivering 
Dr. Franklin's letters to M. LeRay at the Louvre, 
and M. Dubourg, you will be introduced to a set of 
acquaintances, all friends to America. By conversing 
with them you will have a good opportunity of ac- 
quiring Parisian French, and you will find in M. 
Dubourg a man prudent, faithful, secret, intelli- 
gent in affairs, and capable of giving you very safe 
advice. 



Mission to France 45 

Thus the Wethersfield merchant was set adrift 
in the gay capital of Louis XVI, with the task of 
learning a new language, the customs and ways of 
a community decidedly different from, that with 
which he had been accustomed, and also of 
securing goods indispensable to the cause of the 
patriots. 

He was to hold out to France the prize of our 
commerce and to say : 

If we should, as there is a great appearance we shall, 
come to a total separation from Great Britain, France 
would be looked upon as the power whose friendship 
it would be fittest for us to obtain and cultivate. Thp 
commercial advantages Britain had enjoyed with the 
colonies had contributed greatly to her late wealth and . 
importance. It is likely a great part of our commerce 
will naturally fall to the share of France, especially 
if she favors us in this application, as that will be 
a means of gaining and securing the friendship of the 
colonies; and that, as our trade is rapidly increasing 
with our increase of people, and in a greater pro- 
portion, her part of it will be extremely valuable. 

These brilliant prospects were not fulfilled. 
For years French merchants gained more bank- 
ruptcy than profit from the American trade, but 
it is well to put the best foot forward, and in a 
letter from the Secret Committee of October i, 
1776, we read: 



46 Silas Deane 

If France will join us, in time there is no danger but 
the Americans will soon be established as an Independ- 
ent Empire, and France, drawing from her the princi- 
pal part of those sources of wealth and power which 
formerly flowed into Great Britain, will immediately 
become the greatest power in Europe. 

If Franklin, chairman of the committee, wrote 
these alluring sentences he must have been pretty 
thoroughly^ converted to the advantages of the 
"virgin suitoring" in Europe. 

The demands were not modest either. 

The supply we at present want [they wrote] is 
clothing and arms for twenty-five thousand men, with 
. a suitable quantity of ammunition and a hundred 
field-pieces ; and that besides, we want great quanti- 
ties of linens and woolens with other articles for the 
Indian trade, and that the whole, if France should 
grant the other supplies, would make a cargo which it 
ihight be well to secure by a convoy of two or three 
ships of war. 

The payment for these stores is rather vaguely 
hinted at: for the linens, woolens, and goods for 
the Indian trade he was to ask no credit ; and how 
this Connecticut Yankee was to be magician 
enough to stretch his little store of money, most 
of which was in bills, which were afterward re- 
turned protested, to cover so large a purchase, it is 



Mission to France 47 

hard to understand, and a good many of them 
have not been paid for yet. 

As for the mihtary supphes he was to say: 
*'We mean to pay for the same by remittances to 
France or through Spain, Portugal, or the French 
islands, as soon as our navigation can be protected 
by ourselves or France." This cheerful infor- 
mation demanded friends both optimistic and 
altruistic. 

Deane's programme was carefully laid out, 
and the words he was to convert into ''Parisian 
French" were put into his mouth: 

If you should find Vergennes reserved, and not in- 
clined to enter into free conversation with you, it 
may be well to shorten your visit, request him to con-v 
sider what you have proposed, acquaint him with your 
place of lodging, that you may stay some time at 
Paris, and that knowing how precious his time is, you 
do not presume to ask another audience, but that if 
he should have any communication for you, you will 
upon the least notice immediately wait on him. If at 
a future conference he should be more free, and find 
a disposition to favor the colonies, it may be proper 
to acquaint him that they must necessarily be 
anxious to know the disposition of France in certain 
points, which, with his permission, you will mention, 
such as whether, if the colonies should be forced 
to form themselves into an independent state, 
France would probably acknowledge them as such, 
receive their ambassador, enter into any treaty or 



48 Silas Deane 

alliance with them, for commerce, or defense, or 
both. 

It is clear that Franklin, Jay, and Morris had a 
'high opinion of the good judgment and diplo- 
matic skill of their agent, for he was not only to 
secure supplies, without which the war could not 
be prosecuted, and do it mainly with promises, 
and get the supplies past the watchful English 
men-of-war to America, but he was also to be the 
entering wedge for a treaty between the old world 
empire and the new republic. 

In further conferences he was to enlarge on these 
topics, and defend the colonies against all calum- 
nies. The committee adds : 

When your business in France admits of it, it may be 
well to go into Holland and visit our agent there, 
M. Dumas, conferring with him on subjects that may 
promote our interest, and our means of communi- 
cation. You will endeavor to procure a meeting 
with Mr. Bancroft near London, and desiring him to 
come over to him in France or Holland on the score 
of old acquaintance. From him you may obtain a 
good deal of information of what is now going on in 
England. It may be well to remit him a small bill 
to defray his expenses in coming to you, and avoid 
all political matters in your letters to him. 

It was a narrow path in which the inexperienced 
commissioner was to walk. Alas, that the lane had 



Mission to France 49 

such turning as is suggested by the sentence which 
follows: ''You will also endeavor to correspond 
with Mr. Arthur Lee, agent of the colonies in 
London," 

On July 17, Deane was presented to the Minister 
of French Affairs, M. Vergennes, whose chief 
secretary spoke Enghsh well, and the interview 
lasted two hours. Many questions were asked on 
both sides: the French, eager to know more about 
the colonies; Deane, anxious to learn how the con- 
templated Declaration of Independence would be 
' received in Europe. 

I Vergennes explained that since there was a good 
i understanding between Versailles and London, 
I France could not openly encourage the shipping 
i of warlike stores, but no obstruction of any kind 
1 would be given; that Deane was to have a free 
hand to carry on any kind of commerce in the 
kingdom under the protection of the police and 
Vergennes, and he would do well to avoid all Eng- 
lishmen as far as possible, as the British ambas- 
sador was on the watch. In reply to Deane 's 
rose-colored prospects for trade, Vergennes con- 
descended to reply: "The people and their cause 
are very respectable in the eyes of disinterested 
persons, and the interview has been agreeable." 
Deane soon learned that in a late reform of the 



50 Silas Deane 

French army they had shifted their arms to those 
of a Hghter kind; the heavy ones, most of which 
were the same as new, to the number of seventy 
or eighty thousand, lay useless in magazines, with 
other military stores in some such proportion, and 
that it would be possible to get a supply of these 
through some pierchant, without the Ministry 
being concerned in the affair. 

Then came the tug; with four thousand pounds, 
and vague promises, Deane was to buy shiploads 
of merchandise, transport it to the seaboard, — 
in some instances two hundred miles, — provide 
vessels, and get them past the watchful British 
cruisers. 

On August 1 6, he writes to the Committee of 
Correspondence : 

Were it possible, I would attempt to paint to you 
the heartrending anxiety I have suffered in this time 
through a total want of intelligence ; my arrival here, 
my name, my lodgings, and many other particulars 
have been reported to the British Administration, on 
which they sent orders to the British ambassador to 
remonstrate in high terms, and to enforce their re- 
monstrance they despatched Wedderburn from Lon- 
don and Lord Rochford from Holland as persons of 
great interest and address here to counteract me. 
They have been some time here, and the city swarms 
with Englishmen, and as money purchases everything 
in this country, I have had, and still have, a most 



Mission to France 51 

difficult task to avoid their machinations. Not a 
coffee-house or theatre or other place of public diver- 
sion but swarms with their emissaries. I have seen 
many more of the persons in power, and had long con- 
versations with them; their intentions are good, and 
they appear convinced, but there is wanting a great 
and daring genius at their head, which the Count 
Maurepas is far from being. 

I must again remind you of my situation here : the 
bills designed for my use are protested, and expenses 
rising fast in consequence of the business on my 
hands. The quantity of stores to be shipped will 
amount to a large sum ; the very charge on them v/ill 
be great, for which I am the only responsible person. 

I Burdened as he was with care, Deane was full 

j of courage and hope for the colonies, and through 

I the summer and autumn of 1776 he devoted 

I himself to his mission. 



CHAPTER V 

DEANE, VERGENNES, AND BEAUMARCHAIS 

^ ' IN his early negotiations in France, Deane was 
embarrassed by highly recommended friends, 
to whom he was to apply. When Franklin was 
in Paris years before, he had become acquainted 
^ ^ with a Dr. Dubourg, who translated some of 
Franklin's writings into French, and manifested an 
interest in the welfare of America. Dubourg sent 
long letters to Congress, assuring it of the readi- 
ness of France to assist the Americans ; and when 
Deane, a stranger, reached the brilliant capital, 
he availed himself of his letter from Franklin to a 
man described as "prudent, faithful, secret, in- 
telligent in affairs, and capable of giving very sage 
' advice." 

"I waited on M. Dubourg and delivered him 
Dr. Franklin's letter," Deane wrote, "which gave 
the good gentleman the most sincere and real 
pleasure." 

Dubourg was only too willing to help; he had 
been interested in securing supplies for the colonies, 

52 



Harassed in Europe 53 

and he wished to be the intermediary between 
Deane and the French Ministry. Deane soon 
saw that he was too officious and indiscreet to 
be intrusted with important business. Dubourg 
talked too much about plans to assist America to 
suit Vergennes, who wished to have the govern- 
ment completely in the background. 

Beaumarchais wrote the minister: "If while 
we close the door on one side, the window is open 
on the other, surely the secret will escape. Sil- 
ence must be imposed on these babblers, who can 
do nothing themselves, and who hinder those who 
can do something. " 

In August, Deane was informed by Gerard, the' 
first Secretary of Foreign Affairs, that he could 
rely on whatever Beaumarchais should engage in 
commercial supplies. In vain Dubourg remon- 
strated against the decision, the programme was 
settled, the French government was willing to 
open its arsenals to help America, but the aid was 
to be given through the agency and bookkeeping of 
the fictitious house of Roderique, Hortalez & Co., 
the head of which was Caron de Beaumarchais. 

One would suppose that the French govern- 
ment would have chosen a micrchant or speculator 
for the task, rather than an author, who, Dubourg 
bitterly said, was famous for large promises and for 



54 Silas Deane 

his carelessness in money matters; but the result 
proved the wisdom of the choice, though it ruined 
the brilliant and devoted friend of the colonies. 

The famous author of Figaro was bom in 1732, 
in the shop of his father, Caron, a jeweller in the 
rue St. Denis. At twenty, he invented an im- 
provement in the escapement in watches, and 
soon styled himself ''Watchmaker of the King." 
By selling watches to courtiers at Versailles, and 
jostling against nobles and officials, he got together 
money enough to buy a little office, that of Con- 
troller of the Pantry of the King's Household, and 
he marched with the procession that carried the 
meat to the royal table; and he had the honor 
of placing some of the dishes before the king with 
his own hands; and then he stood watching the 
repast, with sword at his side. His next step 
upward was to marry a widow, a lady older than 
himself, and wealthy; and he took the name of 
Beaumarchais from a small fief belonging to his 
wife. 

In 1 761, M. de Beaumarchais, as he was now 
called, bought for eighty-five thousand livres an 
office of Secretary to the King, which imposed no 
duties, but conferred the rank of nobility. When 
taunted with being a plebeian, he replied that he 
could easily prove his nobility, for he held the 



Harassed in Europe 55 

parchment that conferred it, and a receipt for the 
money that paid for it. That parchment did not 
destroy his democratic sympathy with his brothers 
in America, who were struggHng against tyranny ; 
and the author of Le Mariage de Figaro or- 
ganized concerts, dipped into speculation, plunged 
into law, visited England, where he first became 
interested in American affairs through conversa- 
tions with men prominent in opposition to Lord 
North. 

Arthur Lee, a member of the Lee family of 
Virginia, was then studying law at the Temple. 
He, too, was as gifted a talker as Beaumarchais, 
and when the two men came together, the atmos- 
phere was flavored and tinged with roses. We 
can hardly imagine that either believed all that 
the other said about his respective people, but 
Beaumarchais came to believe that the American 
insurgents were of surpassing power, and Lee was 
convinced that France would help the colonists' 
to the limit of her strength. 

Arthur Lee reported to Virginia that France 
would furnish fr^e million livres' worth of arms 
and ammunition to the United States. This pro- 
duct of Lee's imagination and reckless tongue 
made no end of trouble. 

Beaumarchais returned to Paris enthusiastic 



56 Silas Deane 

in the cause of America, and suggested to the 

. French government the advisabihty of lending 

aid to the colonies. In September, 1775, he 

submitted to the king a memoir, in which he 

, predicted the triumph of America. 

Durand, in New Materials on the American 

i Revolution, says that Beaumarchais told Lee, 

' in 1775, that he was trying to persuade Louis 

XVI^and Lee wrote the Secret Committee that 

. in consequence of his active procedure with the 

French ambassador at London, "the Count de 

Vergennes has sent a secret agent to inform me 

that France could not think of going to war with 

England, but he is ready to send five million livres 

in arms and munitions of war, by way of St. 

Domingo, to the United States. " 

Not one word of this was true. Vergennes had 
not only not sent an agent to Arthur Lee, but 
Beaumarchais' frequent applications to the minis- 
ter for secret aid in the shape of money and arms 
had been and were steadily refused. Not until 
months afterward was Vergennes ready. 

On returning to Paris, Beaumarchais corre- 
sponded with Lee and, June 12, 1776, he wrote: 
"The difficulties I have found in my negotiations 
^ with the minister have determined me to form a 
company, which will enable munitions and powder 



Harassed in Europe 57 

to be transmitted to your friend (Congress) on 
condition of his returning tobacco to St. Francis. " 

The youthful Louis XVI was not easily con- 
vinced, and if the advice of Turgot, the greatest 
statesman of France, had been followed, America 
would have received no encouragement. Turgot, 
who was Minister of Finance for two years from 
the summer of 1774, urged neutrality, retrench- 
ment, reform, and the quiet development of 
France, wasted by the fearful Seven Years' War. f 

Maurepas, the aged head of the Cabinet, was 
without vigor, but Vergennes, the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, adopted the cause of the colonies. 
Though a cold, calculating man, he was the most 
powerful friend America had in Europe through 
the war. 

As a statesman, Vergennes was not in the same 
class as Turgot, but he was a man of decided 
ability. The Due de Choiseul, Prime Minister 
of Louis XV, said of Vergennes : " The Compte de 
Vergennes has something to say against whatever 
is proposed to him, but he never finds any diffi- 
culty in carrying out his instructions. Were we to 
order him to send us the vizier's head, he would 
write that it was dangerous, but the head would 
come." 

This powerful friend of America, more than any 



58 Silas Deane 

one else, brought the king to our side, though. 
Sparks says, it was largely due to Beaumarchais 
that the king was persuaded. On December 
7, 1775, Beaumarchais wrote a letter, which was 
given to Louis XVI by Vergennes, urging him to 
assist the United States. That letter is said to 
have turned the scale. 

Vergennes was neither a courtier nor a selfishly 
ambitious man: his habits were simple, clear- 
headed, and trustworthy. Jefferson says : " I found 
him as honorable, as frank, as easy of access to 
reason as any man I have ever done business with. " 

Said James Madison: '^He is the great minister 
of European affairs, cool, reserved in political con- 
versation, free and familiar on other subjects. " 

Vergennes believed that the loss of the colonies 
would so seriously cripple England that she could 
no longer disturb France. He also felt the wave 
of republicanism which was sweeping over France 
in sympathy with the insurgent spirit across the 
Atlantic. He likewise believed that the independ- 
ence of the colonies would greatly advance the 
.commerce of France. 

When the ice in Vergennes did not take fire on 
the reception of Beaumarchais' memorial, the 
impetuous dramatist wrote again on the following 
day, complaining that the Council had taken no 



Harassed in Europe 59 

action. "All the wisdom of the world," he 
wrote, ''will not enable a man to decide on the 
policy he should pursue if he receives no answers 
to his letters. Am I an agent who may prove use- 
ful to this country, or am I a deaf and dumb 
traveler?" 

In December, he addressed another long memo- 
rial to his sovereign, who had maintained silence. 
He insisted that Louis owed it to his people to 
weaken their ancient foe, and ended his harangue 
with the pious prayer, "May the guardian angel 
of the state incline the heart and mind of your 
Majesty." 

Two months later, he sent another long com- 
munication to the crown, declaring that the quarrel - 
between England and America would divide the 
world and change the system of Europe, and 
every person should consider how the impending 
separation would work for his own gain or loss. 

This letter discloses the hand of the scheming 
Arthur Lee : 

A secret representative of the colonies in London, 
discouraged by the failure of his efforts through me 
to obtain from the French ministers supplies of 
powder and munitions of war, said to-day: "Has 
France absolutely decided to refuse us all succor, 
and thus become the victim of England and the 
laughing-stock of Europe? We offer France in return 



^ 



6o Silas Deane 

for secret assistance a treaty of commerce, which 
will secure to her for a number of years after the peace 
all the benefits which for a century have enriched 
England." 

Beaumarchais proposed to the king the scheme 
of which he spoke to Arthur Lee, a scheme by 
which France could aid the colonies and not be- 
come involved in war with England. He said: 
" If your Majesty has not a better man to employ, 
I will undertake the enterprise and no one shall 
be compromised. My zeal will better supply my 
lack of capacity, than the ability of another could 
replace my zeal." The plan was acceptable to 
Vergennes, who in May wrote to the French 
ambassador at Madrid that the Idng had decided 
to lend the Americans a million livres, though 
he would hardly venture to furnish arms and 
munitions of war; and it would be done in the 
name of a commercial firm, which would color 
its zeal by the appearance of a desire to engage in 
the American trade. 

The prospect of repayment was slender, for the 
company would furnish securities — "to tell the 
truth, not very binding. " 

The Spanish king promised to send another 
million livres. 
^ With the powerful backing of Vergennes, 



\, 



Harassed in Europe 6i 

Beaumarchais formed his imaginary house of 
Roderique, Hortalez & Co., and through the 
Spanish, high-sounding, mythical firm, supplies 
were forwarded from the French arsenals to the 
insurgents in America. 

To supply money above that furnished by the 
state, Beaumarchais planned a speculation on his 
own account, which might prove profitable, if his 
ships were not captured by the English, and he 
could get his pay. 

On June lo, 1776, the French government 
advanced a million livres, and Beaumarchais 
executed the receipt, and two months later an- 
other million arrived from Spain. 

Early in July, a new actor appeared in Paris, 
Silas Deane, with a commission from Congress to 
purchase supplies to be paid for by cargoes shipped 
from the colonies. On applying to Vergennes, he 
was referred to Beaumarchais, who offered to ship 
merchandise to the credit of Congress to the 
amount of three million livres. 

Deane wrote Franklin and Morris on August 15 : 

I find M. Beaumarchais, as I before hinted, possesses 
the entire confidence of the Ministry; he is a man of 
wit and genius, and a considerable writer on comic 
and political subjects; all my supplies are to come 
through his hands. 



62 Silas Deane 

On August 1 8, 1776, Beaumarchais wrote the 
/■Committee of Congress : 

T ^ An extensive commercial house has been formed 

solely for the purpose of serving you in Europe, to 

,^ supply you with necessaries of every sort, clothes, linen, 

\ ' powder, ammunition, muskets, cannon, or even gold 

\ for the payment of your troops, and in general every- 

- -^^^/thing that can be useful for the honorable war in 

which you are engaged. 

<lie gives them to understand that return must be 
r / made. He says: '* I request of you, gentlemen, to 
send me next spring ten or twelve thousand hogs- 
heads, or more if you can, of tobacco from Virginia 
/ of the best quality." He also suggests that he 
could handle cargoes of salted fish. 

Lee's officious and imaginative talk about the 
supplies being a gift made a deeper impression on 
Congress than Deane's and Beaumarchais' appeal 
-for payment, and the Secret Committee never sent 
any reply to Roderique, Hortalez & Co., though 
they received the supplies, and put off paying the 
unlucky firm. 

In February, Beaumarchais sent a letter to the 
king, in which he showed that if a million livres 
could be furnished Hortalez & Co., and tobacco 
be promptly received in payment and sold at 
Beaumarchais' romancing prices, by the time the 



Harassed in Europe 63 

king had invested a second time the profits of 
the scheme, the Americans would receive two 
millions in gold and seven millions in powder and 
this would increase in geometrical proportion, using 
three as the multiple. J 

The lago in all this mixture of confusion and- 
depravity was Arthur Lee, the poHtical enemy 
of Beaumarchais and Deane, who was determined 
to advance himself, though he ruined every one 
who stood in his way. 

When Deane arrived in Paris, and Beau- 
marchais no longer communicated with Arthur 
Lee, 

The latter [says Sparks] was disappointed and en- 
raged against Deane, no less than against Beaumar- 
chais. To avenge himself on both, Lee wrote the^ 
Committee of Congress that the two men had agreed, 
to deceive at once the French and the American 
governments, by changing what the French minister 
meant to be a gratuitive present into a commercial 
operation. 

De Lomenie says he has found among Beau- 
marchais' papers proofs that the shipments were 
carefully inspected by American agents, and 
Deane and Beaumarchais were surprised that 
Virginia and Maryland tobacco did not arrive. 
Neither took account of Arthur Lee. 

The headquarters of the flourishing and ill- 



64 Silas Deane 

starred firm of Roderique & Co. were in the 
Faubourg du Temple, in a large house in which the 
Dutch ambassadors had lived. Many clerks were 
installed there, and the author of Figaro was to 
be found there early and late, overseeing the 
activity of the clerks with energy, if not with 
business methods. 

One would not use the term "hard-headed" in 
speaking of a merchant who wrote in business 
letters such sentences as these : 

Your deputies, gentlemen, can find in me a sure 
friend, and asylum in my house, money in my coffers, 
and any means of facilitating their operations. I 
promise you that my indefatigable zeal shall never 
be wanting to clear up difficulties, soften prohibitions, 
and facilitate the operations of a commerce which 
your advantage, more than my own, has made me 
undertake. 

Of the activities of Beaumarchais, we shall speak 
more in detail in the next chapter. We wish we 
were not obliged to record the sequel to this al- 
truistic and enthusiastic endeavor. No tobacco 
was sent by the colonies to the Hortalez firm. 
Its agents at Nantes and Boulogne strained their 
eyes to see the ships, with thousands of hogs- 
heads of the best Virginia tobacco, coming up 
the harbor. Beaumarchais received not even 



Harassed in Europe 65 

a letter acknowledging the receipt of the sup- s, 
plies. In October, he wrote: "There is no news 
from America and no tobacco either. This is 
depressing, but depression is a long way from 
discouragement.'* 

The mischievous and pernicious activity of 
Arthur Lee was bearing fruit. Lee, who seemed 
incapable of telling the truth, kept writing Con- 
gress that the mimitions of war were not to be 
paid for. "M. Vergennes, " he wrote, "has re- 
peatedly assured us that no return was expected ^ 
for the cargo sent by Beaumarchais. This gentle- 
man is not a merchant ; he is known to be a politi- 
cal agent employed by the Court of France." 

Even if France had advanced two hundred 
thousand dollars, the supplies sent by Beau- 
marchais amounted to several times that amount ; 
and when Lee said the supplies were a gift of 
France, he lied and he knew it, and he knew also' 
that when he suggested that the demands of 
Beaumarchais and Deane would fill their pockets 
with illegal 'gains, his lies were still more fiendish, 
for he was plotting the ruin of two honest and 
devoted men, whose earnestness and fidelity his 
miserable soul could not appreciate. 

Congress was perplexed and, being short of 
funds, did nothing. It is hard enough to pay 



r^ . 



66 Silas Deane 

one's honest debts out of a full pocket; the pay- 
ment of a questionable claim causes a beggar 
little worry. 

Franklin had little confidence in the Roderique, 
Hortalez & Co., and declared to Deane that he 
would have nothing to do with any transactions 
arranged before his arrival. When Coudray, 
on reaching America, was furious against Beau- 
marchais, Congress was puzzled. 

Imagine [says De Lomenie] the effect on sober 
Yankees, nearly all of whom had taken part in com- 
mercial transactions before the war, receiving cargoes 
almost always shipped clandestinely in the night, 
with invoices more or less correct, and the whole, with 
no other advices than the somewhat hasty missives 
over the romantic signature of Roderique & Co. in 
which Beaumarchais mingled together enthusiastic 
protestations, an unlimited tender of services, politi- 
cal advice, and demands for tobacco and codfish. 

Shrewd Yankees were naturally led to think that 
such a person, so ardent and fantastic, if he really 
existed, was playing a commercial comedy, un- 
derstood between him and the French authorities, 
and that they might use his supplies, read his 
amplifications, and dispense with sending tobacco. 
The brilliant firm of Hortalez & Co. was in dire 
straits. Beaumarchais extracted another million 
from the depleted French treasury, but that did 



Harassed in Europe 67 

not cover the bill. Beaumarchais wrote re- 
peatedly for payment in tobacco, indigo, anything. 
Arthur Lee kept repeating his rascally lies, assur- - 
ing Congress that the demands were parts of a 
French comedy, or attempts to cheat Congress, 
and defeat the generous programme of Louis. At 
last, a cargo of rice and indigo reached France, 
which the envoys said was intended for them, but 
Beaumarchais begged so hard, he secured it, 
though it was worth but a hundred and fifty 
thousand livres 

You will see [he wrote his agent in America] that 
there is a great difference between this drop of water 
and the ocean of my debts. I am contending with 
obstacles of every nature, but I strti^gle with all my 
might, and I hope to conquer with patience, credit, and 
money. The enormous losses to which all this puts 
me appears to affect no one. The minister is inflexible; 
even the deputies at Passy claim the honor of annoy- 
ing me — me, the best friend of their country. 

In December, 1777, Beaumarchais sent M. 
Francy to America to see if he could get a settle- 
ment of past accounts. "Be like me, " he charged 
him; ''despise small considerations and small 
resentments ; I have enlisted you in a magnificent 
cause." 

As the result of Francy's journey the treasuries 
were put on a surer basis — at least, on paper. 



68 Silas Deane 

A carefully drawn contract was made, but the 
bills remained unpaid. 

An appeal was made to Vergennes, asking his 
advice. 

We do not know [the Committee said] who the 
persons are who constitute the house of Roderique & 
Co. ; but Congress has ever understood, and so have 
the people in America in general, that they were under 
obligations to his Majesty's good will for the great 
part of the merchandise and warlike stores heretofore 
furnished under the firm name of Roderique, Hortalez 
& Co. ; we cannot discover that any written contract 
was ever made between Congress or any agent of 
theirs and the house of Roderique & Co., nor do we 
know of any living witness or any other evidence, 
whose testimony can ascertain for us, who the persons 
are who constitute the house of Roderique & Co., 
or what were the terms upon which the merchandise 
and munitions of war were supplied, neither as to the 
price, nor the time, nor the conditions of payment. 

We apprehend that the United States hold them- 
selves under obligation to his Majesty for all those 
supplies, and we are sure that it is their wish and 
their determination to discharge the obligation as soon 
as Providence shall put it in their power. In the mean- 
time we are ready to settle and liquidate the accounts 
according to our instructions, at any time and in any 
manner, which his Majesty and your Excellency 
shall point out to us. 

In reply to this beautiful letter Vergennes did 
not and could not make any clear statement. 






Harassed in Europe 69 

He could not acknowledge any responsibility for 
Roderique & Co. in furnishing munitions of war to 
America, while England and France were at peace ; 
he wrote the newly appointed minister to the 
United States: 

The king has not furnished anything, he has simply 
allowed M. de Beaumarchais to provide himself with 
what he wanted in the arsenals, on condition of re- 
placing what he took; and that for the rest, I will 
gladly interpose in order that they may not be pressed 
for the payment of the military supplies. 

In January, 1779, John Jay, president of 
j Congress, extended an eloquent vote of thanks 

I to Beaumarchais as follows: 

I 

I Sir, the Congress of the United States, sensible of 

j your exertions in their favor, present you with their 

( thanks, and assure you of their regard. 

i They lament the inconvenience you have suffered 

I by the great advances made in support of these states. 

' Circumstances have prevented a compliance with 
their wishes; but they will take the most effectual 

j measures in their power to discharge the debt due 

I you. 

I The liberal sentiments and extensive views, which 
could alone dictate a conduct like yours, are con- 
spicuous in your actions, and adorn your character. 
While with great talents you served your Prince, 
you have gained the esteem of this infant Republic, 
and will receive the united applause of the New 
World. 



^o Silas Deane 

This must have been very gratifying to a man 
who enjoyed applause as did Beaumarchais, and 
in December he sent over another fleet laden with 
arms and supplies; he also equipped a man-of- 
war named Fier Roderique, and sent it to guard 
the merchantmen, at his own expense, and to his 
personal loss. 

The United States did make some payment, not 
in tobacco, which could have been turned into 
money, but it remitted two million and a half of 
livres in bills, payable three years in the future. 
These scanty promises of a precarious govern- 
ment would not have been paid at all, had not 
Dr. B'ranklin insisted upon it. 

At last Beaumarchais' money and zeal gave 
out, and the rich nobles, who had helped him, 
showed little indulgence. In 1781, Silas Deane 
sought the settlement of Beaumarchais' claims, 
for Deane never wavered in the declaration that 
the supplies should be paid for. 

In November, 1776, Deane wrote Congress: 

I never should have completed what I have done but 
for the indefatigable and spirited exertions of M. 
Beaumarchais, to whom the United States are on 
every account greatly indebted; more so than to any 
other person on this side of the water; he is greatly 
in advance of stores, clothing, and the like, and there- 



Harassed in Europe 71 

fore I am confident that you will make him the earliest 
and most ample remittance. 

Deane went over the accounts and found the 
balance due Beaumarchais was three million six 
hundred thousand livres, but Lee's lies and 
Deane 's calamities furnished excuses for Congress 
to postpone Beaumarchais' claims. 

In 1787, with accounts ten years old, Beau- 
marchais wrote Congress complaining of the 
ingratitude of a powerful nation, and it was 
voted to refer the account to Arthur Lee, who,^ 
following his false genius, and consistent with 
his willingness to ruin Beaumarchais, declared 
that the goods furnished by Roderique & Co. were 
gifts, and that Beaumarchais owed the United 
States almost two million livres. 

In 1793, Alexander Hamilton examined the 
claims and set the sum due M. Beaumarchais at 
two million two hundred and eighty thousand livres 
at least, and possibly a million more, but Congress^ 
made no appropriation. 

Ruined by the French Revolution, Beaumarchais 
fled to Hamburg, and from his garret and poverty, 
ill and broken-hearted, he wrote: "Americans, 
I served you with untiring zeal. I have thus far 
received no return for this but vexation and dis- 
appointment, and I die your creditor. On leaving - 



72 Silas Deane 

f sthis world I must ask you to give what you owe 
me to my daughter as a dowry. ** 
y ' Twenty-nine years later, after repeated en- 
deavors for justice, Beaumarchais' daughter 
went to Washington and solicited payment of the 

' prosperous nation, and eleven years later, fifty- 
seven years after the debt was incurred, the heirs 
were told they would receive twenty-five cents 
on a dollar, if they would sign a receipt in full. 
They did so to the shame of the young Republic ! 

Such was the treatment of a man of whom 
Deane wrote Congress in November, 1776: 

I cannot in a letter do full justice to M. Beaumarchais 
for his great address and assiduity in our cause ; I can 
only say he appears to have undertaken it on great 
and liberal principles, and has in the pursuit made it 
his own. His interest and influence, which are great, 
have been exerted to the utmost in the cause of the 
United States, and I hope the consequences will equal 
his wishes. 

The consequences of what he did for America 
have more than equaled his expectations, but 
what can we say of his share in the prosperity, 
to achieve which he gave such altruistic, such 
unstinted, devotion? 



1 



CHAPTER VI 

/ 

DEANE FORWARDS MILITARY SUPPLIES 

"IV/HEN Deane presented to Vergennes on 
^^ July 17, 1776, his credentials as agent for 
America, he was ndt authorized to hint that the 
'colonies aimed at independency, though the 
Declaration of Independence had been issued 
nearly two weeks before he reached Paris. The 
only ground of his appeal was that no people 
should be taxed without their consent. 

That France had been pitched on for the first appli- 
cation, from an opinion that if we should, as there is a 
great appearance we shall, come to a total separation 
from Great Britain, it is likely a great part of our 
commerce would naturally fall to her share. That the 
supply we at present want is clothing and arms for 
twenty-five thousand men, with a suitable quantity 
of ammunition and a hundred field- pieces. 

The French Ministry evaded all responsibility, 
but told Deane he must do all business with 
Roderique, Hortalez & Co. — in other words, 
with Beaumarchais ; and the negotiations began 

73 



74 Silas Deane 

with the promise of remittance within eight 
months of the time of the deHvery of the goods. 
On August 2, Deane wrote the Committee of 
Congress: '^A number of gentlemen of rank and 
fortune, who have seen service and have good 
character, are desirous of serving the United 
Colonies and have applied ; pray let me have orders 
on this subject. " Though sharply criticized later 
for sending over so many French engineers and 
officers, it is significant that his request for in- 
structions was unheeded, and he was left entirely 
to his own judgment. 

Deane was especially impressed with M. Cou- 
dray "who had the character of the first engineer 
of the kingdom," Deane said, "and his manners 
and disposition will, I am confident, be highly 
pleasing to you, as he is a plain, modest, active, 
sensible man, perfectly averse to frippery and 
parade." 

In November, Deane wrote : 

M. de Coudray, who has the character of being one 
of the best officers of artillery in Europe, has been in- 
defatigable in our service, and I hope that the terms 
I have made with him will not be thought exorbitant 
as he was a principal means of engaging the stores. 

.The letters of Deane are full of anxiety. On 
July 20, he asked Beaumarchais for two hundred 



Forwards Supplies for Army 75 

brass cannon, and arms and clothing for twenty- 
five thousand men, and desires still more. Four 
days later he wrote : 

The fate of my country depends on the arrival of these 
suppHes. I cannot be too anxious on the subject, 
nor is there any danger or exposure so great, but what 
must be hazarded, if necessary, to effect so capital 
and important a subject. 

Two days afterward Beaumarchais wrote : 

I do not think so large a train of artillery as you 
desire can leave this country without a chief and offi- 
cers, for among a nation as peaceful as the Americans, 
all knowledge of the tactics must be unknown, and the 
proper management of a train of artillery is the most 
difficult branch of the tactics. You ought not, there- 
fore, to hesitate in adopting Mr. Arthur Lee's former 
plan of sending engineers and officers, particularly 
officers of artillery. If you approve of the plan, it 
shall be my duty to tempt the best ones of their class, 
especially soldiers of fortune. Here there should be 
no effort at economy. 

Coudray was a striking sample of the soldiers of 
fortune engaged. Deane wrote the Secret Com- 
mittee that, dissatisfied with an idle life, he was 
willing to be advanced from his position as an 
adjutant-general in the French service, to be 
general of artillery in the American forces, with 
the rank of major-general. 



76 Silas Deane 

It is clear that the French were determined to 
lump officers and supplies, and apparently Deane 
had no alternative, he must take both or neither, 
for he adds : 

Considering the importance of having two hundred 
pieces of brass cannon with every necessary article 
for twenty-five thousand men provided, with an able 
and experienced general at the head, warranted by 
the Minister of the Court, with a number of fine 
and spirited young officers in his train, and all with- 
out advancing one shilling, is too tempting an offer 
for me to hesitate about, though I own there is a 
silence in my instructions. 

In our judgment of Deane for sending over so 
many officers as he did, we are also to remember 
how eager they were to come. Franklin wrote 
to Lovell, October 17, 1777: 

You can have no conception of the arts and interest 
made use of to recommend and engage us to recom- 
-fnend very indifferent persons. The opportunity is 
boundless; the numbers we refuse incredible, which, 
if you knew, you would applaud us for, and on that 
account excuse the few we have been prevailed upon 
to introduce to you. 

On September 11, Deane signed an agreement 
with General Coudray to have the pay of major- 
general, and wrote, "He will exert himself in 
despatching the artillery and stores agreed on." 



Forwards Supplies for Army 77 

Coudray was a disappointment: the noble 
qualities Deane had discovered in him were only 
skin-deep. He set sail in the Amphitrite with a 
large cargo of stores, but soon the vessel returned 
to port by order of the officious Coudray and 
against the protest of the captain.. The officers 
complained of a lack of livestock. Evidently the 
gallant general, Coudray, found the menu less ap- 
petizing than in the Paris banquet halls. Deane 
wrote bitterly : 

The consequences have been bad. This I must 
say: He acted an unwise and injudicious part in 
returning into port; he gave a fresh alarm to the 
Ministry and occasioned a second counter-order. 
Indeed, Mons. de Coudray appeared to have solely 
in view his own ease, safety, and emolument. He- 
returned quite to Paris, without the least ground that 
I can find for his conduct, and has laid his scheme to 
pass to America in a ship without artillery, which is 
absurd, as I engaged with this man solely on account 
of the artillery he was to assist in procuring and 
attending in person. His desertion of this charge, 
with his other conduct, makes me wish that he may 
not arrive in America at all. 

Coudray finally brought his officious and con- 
ceited presence across the Atlantic. Then came 
troubles innumerable; the arrangement was that 
he should command the artillery ; there sprang up 



> 



78 Silas Deane 

a plentiful crop of resignations: Coudray would 
have everything or nothing. His inflexible will 
paid no regard to the situation. The difficulty 
was relieved when Congress created for him the 
office of inspector of the artillery with the rank 
of major-general. Coudray refused this, and en- 
tered the army as a volunteer, with the rank of 
captain; but, by what Franklin called "a happy 
accident, " on September i6, 1777, he was drowned 
in the Schuylkill, and the rest of his corps returned 
to France. 

More conspicuous still was the episode con- 
cerning Comte de BrogHe. The following is what 
Deane wrote the Committee of Secret Corre- 
spondence December 6, 1776, on a matter which 
brought sharp criticism upon the head of the 
writer : 

I submit one thought to you, whether, if you could 
engage a great general of the highest character in 
Europe, such for instance as Prince Ferdinand, Mar- 
shal Broglie, or others of an equal rank, to take 
the lead of your armies, such a step would not be 
politic, as it would give a character and a credit to your 
niilitary, and strike perhaps a greater panic in our 
enemy. I only suggest the thought, and leave you to 
confer with Baron de Kalb on the subject at large. 

The candidate for the position of commander-in- 
chief of the American forces was Comte de Broglie, 



Forwards Supplies for Army 79 

who belonged to a family which had furnished two 
marshals to France. He was a soldier of experi- 
ence and energy, and it is not strange that when 
his cause was urged by Baron de Kalb, Deane, 
overburdened with work and perplexity, and 
shouldering alone the task of commission, unaided 
by advice from Congress, should have listened 
with sympathy. On November 6, he wrote the 
Committee : 

Comte de Broglie, who commanded the army of 
France in the last war, did me the honor to call on 
me twice yesterday with an officer who served as his 
head quartermaster-general and has now a regiment in 
the service. He is desirous of engaging in the service 
of the United States. I can by no means let slip the 
opportunity of engaging a person of so much experi- 
ence, who is by every one recognized as one of the 
bravest and most skillful officers in the kingdom. 

Just a month later, Deane proposed to the 
Secret Committee that De Broglie be engaged to 
take the lead in the army, "I only suggest the 
thought, " wrote Deane, "and leave you to confer 
with Baron de Kalb." Ten days later De Kalb 
argues that a military leader of great European 
reputation would be worth twenty thousand men. 
It is not strange that Deane was impressed with 
the idea that a man brought up in war, with such 
a reputation as Broglie, would be of great value to 



8o Silas Deane 

the American cause. Deane was having a hard 
time. 

Well-nigh embarrassed to death [he writes], with 
applications of officers to go out to America, bills 
protested, credit poor in Paris, and worse in Amster- 
dam, reports of the disaster on Long Island, the 
burning of New York, and of negotiations with Eng- 
land rendering the French Ministry wary and distant, 
no orders, advices, or remittance. 

On December 4, he wrote Robert Morris that 
in eight months he had received but two letters 
from Congress. "Every one here judges," he 
writes, "you are negotiating, or giving up the 
cause, and the British ambassador and agents 
roundly assert it." 

His anxiety and distress were greater than at 
any other time in his life. In the midst of all this 
wearing, perplexing, discouraging medley, we 
should not criticize too severely the man for mildly 
suggesting the project of securing a commander-in- 
chief of European reputation for the American 
forces. Washington had a high reputation, and 
Deane had great respect for his ability, but he still 
had his spurs to win. We smile with pitying 
compassion at the folly of displacing the majestic 
George Washington with a little Frenchman, 
whose head stood erect, as one contemporary 



Forwards Supplies for Army 8i 

said, *'like a bantam cock"; his sparkling eyes, 
when he was excited, were like a volcano pouring 
forth fire; with the fame of the Seven Years' War 
resting on his pompous shoulders. De Kalb went 
over to America as advance agent of this fierce 
little second-rate officer. De Kalb had the utmost 
confidence in De Broglie and submitted to him a 
project, of which he said that it "would perhaps 
decide the success of the cause of liberty in the 
United States. Congress should ask of the king 
of France some one, who would become their civil 
and military chief, the temporary generalissimo of 
the new republic. " De Kalb speaks considerately 
of Washington ; thinks he has done fairly well. 

But my plan is [he says] to have a man whose name 
and reputation alone would discourage the enemy. 
Many young noblemen would follow him as volunteers 
for the sake of serving and distinguishing themselves 
under his eyes. The nobility, by its interest at Court, 
by its credit, or the management of its friends and 
kinsmen, could decide the king in favor of a war 
with England .... Such a leader, with the assist- 
ants he would choose, would be worth twenty thou- 
sand men, and would double the value of the American 
troops. This man may be found, I think I have 
found him, and I am sure that once he is known, he 
will unite the suffrages of the public, of all sensible 
men, of all military men, and I venture to say of all 
Europe. 



82 Silas Deane 

We are amused at the suggestion that follows 
that this fiery little fountain of emotion and 
egotism needed to be wooed like a coy maiden. 
De Kalb continues: 

The question is to obtain his acceptance, which as I 
think can only be accomplished by loading him with 
sufficient honors to satisfy his ambition, as by nam- 
ing him Field Marshal Generalissimo, and giving him 
a considerable sum of ready money for his numerous 
children; the cares of whom he would have to forego 
for some time during his sojourn beyond the seas, to 
be equivalent to them in case of the loss of their father, 
and by giving him all the powers necessary for the 
good of the service. 

De Kalb planned to go over to America on the 
Amphitrite in December, with the promise of the 
rank of major-general together with twelve thou- 
sand livres for expenses; and his great mission 
was to convince the rustics in America that a man 
of elevated rank and large experience called 
generalissimo, with supreme authority over the 
army, and a large pension for life, would splendidly 
replace the provincial Washington, and reimburse 
by a hundred-fold all the expenses of the costly 
venture. 

It is unfair to shoulder all this variegated bubble 
upon the worried and overworked Deane; De 
Kalb was the prime mover in behalf of his modest 



Forwards Supplies for Army 83 

little chief. "I leave this unsigned," adds De 
Kalb; "you know who I am. " 

Broglie had remained quietly at his country 
seat at Ruffec, while De Kalb was working so 
faithfully for tke prosperity of America, by plead- 
ing the interests of its mighty deliverer. In the 
spring of 1777, De Kalb embarked with Lafayette 
on the Victory, and when he reached America 
all his drearily mists of delusion vanished, after 
he had entered the presence of Washington, and 
had seen the greatness of his character, the breadth 
and force of his mind, his courage and his success. 
De Kalb was shrewd enough to see that the 
colonies had no need of a brilliant French officer 
to give them the victory. In September, 1777, he 
wrote to General Broglie : 

If I return to Europe, it is largely on account of the 
impossibility of succeeding in the great project with 
which I occupied myself with so much pleasure. M. 
de Valfort will tell you that the proposition is im- 
practicable. It would be regarded as a crying injustice 
against Washington, and an affront to the honor of 
the country. He does every day more than could be 
expected from any general in the world in the same 
circumstances, by his natural and acquired capa- 
city, his bravery, good sense, uprightness and honesty, 
to keep up the spirits of the army and people, and 
I look upon him as the sole defender of his country's 
cause. 



§4 Silas Deane 

Perhaps the most distinguished man whom 
Deane commissioned was Lafayette, of whom 
Deane wrote the Secret Committee of Congress : 

, "Lafayette not thinking that he can obtain leave 
of his family to pass the seas till he can go as a 
general officer, I have thought I could not better 
serve my country than by granting him the rank of 
miajor-general. " 

The man who probably did more for our cause 
than any one else whom Deane sent from Europe 
was Baron Steuben, whose 'coming overbalances 
many a blunder in commissioning some gay 
soldier of fortune. 

On September 3, 1777, Deane wrote Morris of 
Steuben, who had visited Paris two months before, 
with all the weight of twenty years of experience 
under Frederick the Great, part of the time 

^ quartermaster-general and aide-de-camp to the 
king of Prussia. Steuben carried in his pocket 
letters from Prince Henry of Prussia, and wished 
to embark immediately, but finding no oppor- 

vtunity, returned to Germany; urged by his friends 
he went again to Paris, and although Franklin 
did not favor the plan, Deane urged the German 
veteran to go to America without delay. It was 
at a time when complaints were coming back to 
Paris of the swarm of French officers, who had 



Forwards Supplies for Army 85 

embarrassed more than helped the cause of the 
insurgents, but Deane recognized the superior 
worth of Steuben, and recommended him to Con- 
gress and to Washington. Deane's judgment was 
justified. No other officers who came to us did 
more than Steuben to perfect our army. He was 
made inspector-general of the army, with the 
rank of major-general ; introduced German tactics, 
organized the military staff, and trained the troops 
in the use of the bayonet. 

On September 17, 1776, Deane wrote to a 
French firm that the total silence of his friends in 
America had well-nigh distracted him, and de- 
ranged his whole proceedings; however, he was 
tired of waiting, and must proceed to order sul- 
phur, saltpetre, and powder. The same day, he 
wrote to Robert Morris that he should forward in 
October, clothing for twenty thousand men, 
thirty thousand fusils, one hundred tons of powder,' 
twenty-four brass mortars, with shells, shot, lead, 
etc. 

On September 30, he explains to Morris his 
embarrassment in ordering large stores of military 
suppHes without a shilling of money, exclusive of 
a fund of forty thousand pounds originally in- 
tended for other affairs. He writes: "To let slip 
or to let pass such an opportunity for want of 



/ 



86 Silas Deane 

ready money would be unfortunate, and yet that 
was taking from a fund before deficient." He 
adds a little touch which shows the domestic side 
of his life: "Pray forward the trifles I am sending 
to my little deserted family as soon as received. 
God bless and prosper America, is the prayer of 
every one here, to which I say. Amen and Amen. " 

Although the Declaration of Independence had 
been issued in America nearly three months be- 
fore, there had been no official announcement of 
the fact to France. On October i, Deane wrote 
the Secret Committee that the situation was 
critical, the ministry uneasy at the absolute silence 
■from America and the bold assertions of the 
British Ambassador, together with the declaration 
of a General Hopkins of Maryland, who pretended 
to be in Deane 's secrets, who insisted that the 
stores would be used against France. This had 
brought the French to apprehend, not only a 
settlement between England _ and America, but 
the most serious consequences to the French 
West India Islands should the colonies again 
unite with Great Britain. He said : 

For me, alas, I had nothing left but to make the 
most positive assertions that no accommodation could 
or would take place, and to pledge myself in the 
strongest possible manner that thus would turn out 



Forwards Supplies for Army 87 

the event, yet so strong were their apprehensions that 
an order was issued to suspend furnishing me with 
stores. Our friend Beaumarchais exerted himself, 
and in a day or two obtained the orders to be counter- 
manded. For Heaven's sake, if you mean to have 
any connection with this kingdom, be more assiduous 
in getting your letters here. It would be too tedious 
to recount what I have met with. I do not mention 
a single difficulty with one complaining thought for 
myself: my all is devoted, and I am happy in being 
so far successful. The stores are collecting, and I hope- 
will be embarked by the middle of the month. It is 
consistent with a political letter to urge the remit- 
tance of the fourteen thousand hogsheads of tobacco 
written for formerly, in part payment of these stores : 
if you make it twenty thousand the public will be 
gainers. 

Evidently Deane did not think of the goods as a 
present. 

A week later, Deane wrote the Committee that 
the three months' silence after the Declaration of 
the Fourth of July had given him inexpressible 
anxiety, and more than once came near frustrating 
his whole endeavors, for it had been expected in 
Paris that the next step after the independence 
would be an appeal for the friendship of France. 
He again calls for twenty thousand hogsheads of 
tobacco and suggests that the frigates could dis- 
charge their cargo at Bordeaux, and refit there 



88 Silas Deane 

as cruisers to prey on British commerce and pillage 
the west coast of England and Scotland. ^ 

Through the autumn of 1776, Deane was bur- 
dened with incessant anxiety in his endeavors to 
get the war materials to Havre de Grace and 
Nantes, and then away. He was overwhelmed by 
offers from French officers, eager for advanced office 
and increased pay. He wrote: "Had I ten ships 
f'could fill them all with passengers for America. I 
am well-nigh harassed with applications of officers. 
^ Baron de Kalb, I consider an important acquisi- 
tion, as are many other officers, whose character I 
stay not to particularize. " 

On December 3, he wrote the Committee: "I 
"shipped forty thousand tons of saltpetre, two 
- hundred thousand pounds of powder via Marti- 
nique, and one hundred barrels via Amsterdam. " 
By the same mail he wrote John Jay that the 
Declaration of Independence had been presented 
in Court, and it was well received. 

Thomas Morris, the wayward brother of Robert, 
added much to the care and worry of Deane. 
Thomas was in London, and his able and powerful 
brother, Robert, anxious to help him in his career, 
had given him a financial position in London 
under the supervision of Deane. Writing to 
Robert Morris, December 4, 1777, Deane says: 



Forwards Supplies for Army 89 

I am afraid, from good advices from London, that 
pleasure has got too strong a hold on him. On his 
arrival in London, a respectable friend wrote me that 
the company he dipped at once into was so dissolute 
and expensive that it very essentially injured the 
reputation of your house. ' 

On October 23, a letter came from Robert 
Morris urging Deane to be attentive to Thomas/ 
and spur him up to diligent, honest, and faithful 
discharge of duty. By the same mail there came ^ 
a letter from the Committee announcing that ^ 
Thomas Jefferson had declined to go to France, 
^and Arthur Lee of London had been appointed to 
serve. with Deane and Franklin as commissioner. 
It is interesting to imagine what would have been 
Deane's later life, if Jefferson had accepted the ^^ 
office of commissioner, and Arthur Lee had been 
allowed to spend his virulence on some one else. 

The gloom of approaching disaster and ruin 
began to gather about Deane when in December, 
1777, Arthur Lee crossed the British Channel and (: 
took lodgings in Paris. / 

Before we pass to the consideration of Deane's 
work in conjunction with Franklin and Lee, we 
glance at the work accomplished in the five months 
during which he had served alone. By the first 
of December, eight ships were ready to sail with 



90 Silas Deane 

the supplies, which were indispensable for the 
campaign which culminated in the surrender of 
Burgoyne at Saratoga, and all, except the Flamand, 
were got to sea in January and February, 1777; 
the Flamand sailed in September. These vessels 
carried eight thousand seven hundred and fifty 
pairs of shoes, three thousand six hundred 
blankets, more than four thousand dozen pairs of 
stockings, one hundred and sixty-four brass cannon, 
one hundred and fifty-three carriages, more than 
forty-one thousand balls, thirty- seven thousand 
fusils, three hundred and seventy-three thousand 
flints, fifteen thousand gun worms, five hundred 
and fourteen thousand musket balls, nearly 
twenty thousand pounds of lead, nearly one hun- 
dred and sixty-one thousand pounds of powder, 
twenty-one mortars, more than three thousand 
bombs, more than eleven thousand grenades, three 
hundred and forty-five grapeshot, eighteen thou- 
sand spades, shovels, and axes, over four thousand 
tents, and fifty-one thousand pounds of sulphur. 

The Amphitrite and Mercure, on board of which 
were more than eighteen thousand stands of arms 
complete, and fifty- two pieces of brass cannon, 
with powder and tents and clothing, reached 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the spring in 
season for the campaign of 1777. It is impossible 



Forwards Supplies for Army 91 

to exaggerate the importance of those supplies in 
the battles which culminated in the fall of Bur- 
goyne, who was sweeping down powerfully from 
Canada to New York with the purpose of separat- 
ing the northern from the southern colonies. It 
was a time of general alarm throughout the 
country. The governor's Horse Guard of Con- 
necticut was summoned. Every nerve was 
strained to stay the advance of Burgoyne. The 
military supplies, furnished by Vergennes and 
forwarded by Beaumarchais and Deane, landed 
at Portsmouth and carried overland to the Hud- 
son, figured largely in the splendid victory, which 
gave new courage and hope to the American 
cause, and soon led to the French recognition of 
the new republic. 

It were unfortunate if our story of Coudray and 
De Broglie has created the impression that all the 
volunteers who came from beyond the sea were 
failures ; Lafayette, De Kalb, Steuben, and Pulaski 
came early, and others who came later who did 
valiant service. 

On the whole, the choice of Deane as com- 
missioner to forward military supplies was justified 
by the results. 



CHAPTER VII 

FRANKLIN AND LEE JOIN DEANE IN PARIS 

T^HE task of Deane was that of agent of the 
Secret Committee of Congress in search of 
help for the struggling colonists. He had no 
official position, but after the Declaration of In- 
dependence was issued, it was decided to appoint 
three Commissioners, and Franklin, Jefferson, and 
Deane were chosen ; JefEerson declined, and Arthur 
Lee was appointed in his place. 

There never has been any question about the 
wisdom of the choice of Franklin. 

Philosophic, literary, and political ferment pre- 
pared the French people to sympathize with the 
American insurgents . Scientific activity was vigor- 
ous in France in the eighteenth century. "More 
new truths," says Buckle, "concerning the ex- 
ternal world were discovered in France during the 
latter part of the eighteenth century than during 
all the previous periods put together." Lecture 
rooms of professors of chemistry, anatomy, and 
physics were almost as crowded as theatres, and 

92 



Signs the Treaty with France 93 

when Franklin appeared in Paris heralded by his 
fame in electricity, and put the first Hghtning-rod 
in France upon his dwelling in Passy, the genial 
philosopher received a royal welcome. 

Wearied with the artificial modes of life, the 
French were delighted with the naturalness of the 
Americans, and when Franklin appeared with his 
provincial dress and benignant face, he excited a 
widespread interest which rose to enthusiasm. 
The feeling of the English was different. Some 
claimed he had abandoned his country in her 
ruin, "I have just seen," writes Franklin, 
" seven paragraphs in the English papers about me, 
six were lies. " Stormont, the British Ambassador 
to France, wrote: ''It is generally believed here 
that he comes in the double capacity of a nego- 
ciator and a fugitive. He will lie, he will promise, 
and he will flatter, with all the insincerity and 
subtlety that are natural to him." Deane wrote: 
" His arrival is the common topic for conversation, 
and has given birth to a thousand conjectures. " 

No one else could have been selected so admir- 
ably adapted to the task that needed doing. The 
story of the kite, the new world of electrical 
knowledge and power just opening ; his reputation 
as a philosopher and a wise man, his simple dress, 
shrewd conversation, keen criticism, and inde- 



94 Silas Deane 

pendent judgment attracted the admiration of a 
people, tired of an effete civilization. 
The Comte de Segur says : 

It would be difficult to describe the eagerness and 
delight with which these agents of a people in a state 
of insurrection against their monarch were received in 
France, in the bosom of an ancient monarchy. No- 
thing could be more striking than the contrast be- 
tween the luxury of our capital, the elegance of our 
fashions, the magnificence of Versailles, the still bril- 
liant remains of the monarchical pride of Louis, and 
the polished and superb dignity of our nobiHty. . . 
and the almost rustic apparel, the unpowdered hair, 
the plain but firm demeanor, the free and direct 
language of the envoys; whose antique simplicity 
of dress and appearance seemed to have introduced 
within our walls, in the midst of the effeminate and 
servile refinement of the eighteenth century, sages 
contemporary with Plato, or republicans of the age 
of Cato and of Fabius. This unexpected spectacle 
produced upon us a greater effect in consequence of 
its novelty, and because it occurred precisely at the 
period when literature and philosophy had spread 
amongst us all an unusual desire for reforms, a dis- 
position to encourage innovations, and the seeds of an 
ardent attachment to liberty. 

Parton writes: 

Men imagined they saw in Franklin a sage of an- 
tiquity come back to give austere lessons and generous 
examples to the moderns. They personified in him 



Signs the Treaty with France 95 

the Republic of which he was the representative and 
the legislator. They regarded his virtues as those of 
his countrymen, and even judged of their physi- 
ognomy by the imposing and serene traits of his own. 

The French police gave him abundant advertise- 
ment : 

Dr. Franklin [says a sketch of the time] is very much 
run after, and f^ted, not only by the savants, his 
confreres, but by all the people who can get hold of 
him. This Quaker wears the full costume of his sect. 
He has an agreeable physiognomy, spectacles always 
on his eyes ; but little hair, — a fur cap is always on his 
head. He wears no powder, but has a neat air, 
linen very white, and a brown coat. 



I When he reached Paris on Dec. 3, 1776, he took 

lodgings at first at the center of the city in the 
H6tel de Hamburg, but he soon accepted the in- 
vitation of Le Ray de Chaumont, a wealthy and 
ardent friend of America, to take up his abode in a 
more retired place in Passy, half a mile beyond 
the outskirts of Paris. There for nine years Dr. 
Franklin lived. 

That house is still in existence, and it has on its 
f agade an inscription which informs the public that 
it was the home of Franklin. 

That house became the center of a cordial 
and extensive hospitality. Americans were there, 
whether friendly or unfriendly. There Franklin 



96 Silas Deane 

tried to make Deane and Lee forget their ani- 
mosities. There was entertained Ralph Izard, a 
man of the same stripe as Arthur Lee, sent over as 
envoy to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, but pre- 
ferring to Hve in Paris in idleness; whose laziness 
and meanness at length wore out the patience of 
the gentle Franklin, who closed his house to a 
man so unprincipled and virulent. 
John Adams says : 

Franklin's reputation was more universal than that of 
Leibnitz or Newton, Frederick or Voltaire; and his 
charactermoreesteemedthanany or allof them. . . . 
His name was familiar to government and people, to 
kings, courtiers, nobility, clergy, and philosophers, as 
well as plebeians, to such a degree that there was 
scarcely a peasant or a citizen, a valet-de-chambre, 
coachman, or footman, a lady's chamber-maid, or a 
scullion in the kitchen, who was not familiar with it, 
or who did not consider him as a friend to humankind. 
If a collection could be made of all the Gazettes of 
Europe for the latter part of the eighteenth century, 
a greater number of panegyrical paragraphs upon "le 
grande Franklin" would appear, it is believed, than 
upon any other man who ever lived. 

Medallions, busts, medals of every size and 
style appeared. Franklin wrote his daughter: 

A variety of impressions has been made of different 
sizes : some large enough to be set in the lids of snuff- 
boxes; some so small as to be worn in rings; and the 



Signs the Treaty with France 97 

number sold is incredible. These, with the pictures, 
busts, and printings (of which copies upon copies are 
spread everywhere), have made your father's face as 
well known as that of the moon. 

Franklin and Deane were together at Passy, on 
friendliest terms, and soon Lee came over from 
England and took lodgings in another part of the 
city, scornful of the French, eager to push forward 
his own interests, bent on mischief. 

Arthur Lee had two brothers in Congress, one 
of whom was Richard Henry Lee, chairman of the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs. Arthur Lee was 
born Dec. 20, 1740, three years after Deane. His 
early education was finished at Eton in England, 
whence he went to Edinburgh to prepare for the 
medical profession. After taking his degree, he 
traveled in Holland and Germany, and then re- 
turned to Virginia to practice. Not satisfied with 
the medical profession he went to London and be- 
gan to study law at the Temple, about the year 
1766. 

Sparks is our authority for the statement that 
Lee was hostile to Franklin from an early date, 
and while he did not secure his downfall as he did 
that of Deane, he did his best to compass it. 

While Franklin was agent for Massachusetts at 
the Court of London, Arthur Lee was nominated 



98 Silas Deane 

to be his successor when he should retire. Cir- 
cumstances detained the philosopher longer in 
England than was expected, and Lee grew im- 
patient, and fearing, as he said, that Franklin 
would never depart until he was gathered to his 
fathers, resorted to the dishonorable artifice of 
writing letters to one of the principal men of the 
Massachusetts legislature, filled with charges 
against him regarding his official conduct, charges 
as destitute of foundation as of candor and 
propriety. 

In October, 1777, Lee wrote to his brothers and 
to Samuel Adams that foreign affairs were in con- 
fusion, and that he would "prefer being at the 
Court of France, the great wheel by which all the 
other wheels are moved," and he recommended 
that FrankHn be sent to Vienna and Deane to 
Holland. 

At one time, he intimated that Franklin had 
sent out a public vessel on a ''crusing job," in 
the profits of which he was to share; at another 
time, he said that Franklin and an American 
banker in Paris were in league with each other to 
defraud the public and put money into their own 
pockets. 

Deane had some dealings with Lee before the 
latter was appointed Commissioner, and in a way 



Signs the Treaty with France 99 

which did not commend the Virginian to the 
Yankee. In the summer of 1776, Deane wrote: 

I received a letter from Arthur Lee, then at London, 
desiring me to inform Congress that Joseph Reed and 
John Langdon were dangerous persons, and to put 
Congress on guard. Stranger as I was to Arthur 
Lee's character, his letter greatly surprised me, the 
more so as he wrote in the most positive terms, with- 
out giving me the reasons for the charge. I replied 
that I could by no means comply with his request, 
that I had long been personally acquainted with the 
gentlemen, and had the fullest confidence in their 
integrity and zeal for America, therefore I could not 
think of transmitting such information without proof; 
that I knew they held important posts in Congress, 
therefore, if the charge could be supported, no time 
should be lost in transmitting evidence, but I trembled 
at the thought of giving Congress suspicions of its 
most confidential servants without certain proof; the 
consequences must be pernicious to the public and 
fatal to the individual. 

Some time afterward Lee visited Paris, and 
Deane urged him to give him the grounds for his 
letter concerning Reed and Langdon. Lee said 
that as for Reed he really knew nothing more than 
that he formerly corresponded with Lord Dart- 
mouth, and Reed's brother-in-law had an inter- 
view with his lordship. But as for Langdon he 
had no doubt about his disloyalty, as he had spent 
the last winter in London and was frequently with 



100 Silas Deane 

the Ministry. Deane replied that as to the latter 
he had spent the last winter in Philadelphia, and 
as to the former he did not think such vague 
and inconclusive circumstances were sufficient to 
authorize the sending general charges to Congress ; 
that charges of such a complexion, and coming 
from such a person as himself, must forever damn 
the reputation of those accused, and alarm and 
embarrass the public. To this Lee replied that 
he knew that a person named Langdon had been 
in London the last winter, and therefore he wrote, 
supposing him to be John Langdon of Ports- 
mouth; that he believed he was too suspicious at 
times, and was glad Deane had not sent forward 
the letter. 

When the three Commissioners had gotten 
settled, they called on Vergennes, who assured 
them of his friendliness so far as the treaty obli- 
gations with England would permit. He criti- 
cized Beaumarchais for letting Deane have the 
supplies and seemed to blame the imaginary firm, 
Roderique, Hortalez & Co., and Franklin and Lee 
determined to let Deane engineer the business end 
of their commission. 

It was a trying time, the Amphitrite had re- 
turned to port because of head-winds and lack of 
fresh meat for the gallant Coudray. Deane found 



Signs the Treaty with France loi 

Beaumarchais ill in bed with fatigue and vexation. 
"I never had been," writes Deane, "in so critical 
and distressed a situation. All the difficulties 
before were as nothing." The stores of thirty 
thousand stands of arms, near two hundred and 
fifty pieces of brass artillery, clothing and powder, 
were ready at the ports; ships were ready at ex- 
pense; accounts of the critical situation of the 
armies in America, their misfortunes, distress, and 
want of supplies, together with the coolness and 
reserve of the Minister, almost put Deane into 
desperation. Something must be done; Deane 
saw that his only hope was through Beaumarchais 
and he assured him that, however decided the 
opposition of the city and the Court, there must be 
no desertion of the cause, and the business of 
securing supplies for the American army must 
not fall through; between Beaumarchais and 
Deane, the Amphitrite was cleared as for the 
West Indies, with instructions to the captain to 
head for Portsmouth, and he arrived there in 
April just as the troops were taking the field. 

It was difficult and expensive to get the stores' 
to the seaports; some of the cannon were drawn 
two hundred miles; British agents were every- 
where on the watch; the moment war supplies 
began to move, remonstrance and counter orders 



, 102 Silas Deane 

sprang up. Deane carried the burden of buying 
and forwarding supplies, a task for which he was 
' better qualified than for politics. Franklin was 
past seventy when he went to Paris, and he had 
-neither experience nor taste for business and 
accounts, and he was quite willing that younger 
men should attend to details. Lee was away from 
Paris much of the time, in Spain, Holland, and 
Berlin, vainly seeking help ; when he was in Paris 
Deane talked over the contracts with him as he 
always did with Franklin, but affairs ran more 
smoothly with the Commissioners when Lee was 
out of town. Here is a sample of his mental 
breadth and good sense: Deane was negotiating 
with a French contractor, a M. Holker, for 
several thousand suits of clothes for the army, and 
after talking it over together they decided that it 
would be wise, for the severe climate of America, to 
make the coats longer than usual, in order to lap 
over the trousers for the better protection of the 
men; it was argued that the expense would be 
slight as it would require only one sixth more 
cloth and four extra buttons, but when Deane 
and Holker talked it over with Lee, the latter 
objected on the ground of expense; so strenuous 
was the opposition, that Holker generously 
offered to bear the extra cost himself, when Lee 



Signs the Treaty with France 103 

answered that he had another objection, that it 
would increase the weight of the coat and thus 
fatigue the soldier! It is not strange that after 
that the French contractors declined to discuss 
their contracts with Lee. 

The autumn of 1776 was discouraging: Bur- 
goyne was on his way toward Albany to cut the 
eastern colonies off from the southern ; Gen. Howe 
was pushing on toward Philadelphia, and the 
American forces were retreating; the French 
Ministry was wary ; sometimes the French assur- 
ances of help were scanty. Deane went to 
Fontainebleau with a fixed resolution, when the 
fortunes of the Continental army were ebbing and 
credit almost gone. The appearance of the per- 
sistent Yankee Commissioner gave the Ministry 
decided uneasiness, for powerful English officers 
were on the watch, and the future of the American 
cause was cloudy. They asked Deane to wait 
till they heard from Spain; he knew it was an 
excuse to hear from America; the last news from 
the seat of war was discouraging, the next might 
mean ruin for the insurgents ; but notwithstanding 
the hostile looks, Deane declared his deter- 
mination to remain there until he obtained a 
positive answer to his request for money. He 
insisted on a short interview with Vergennes, he 



104 Silas Deane 

was informed that the courier had not returned 
from Spain, and it was desired that he should retire 
from Fontainebleau, where the person and business 
of any stranger, especially an American Com- 
missioner, could not escape observation. 

Deane replied that it was within the power of the 
Minister to free himself from any uneasiness on his 
account by granting his request, and probably of 
all future solicitude concerning America by the 
absolute refusal of it, but that he could not think 
of returning to Paris without an explicit answer. 

As we look at the situation, the stand which 
Deane took was indispensable, for while the French 
treasury was impoverished, the state of affairs in 
America was desperate; even Franklin advised 
stopping the execution of the contract, and selling 
the goods on hand, to pay the pressing debts which 
the Commissioners had contracted. 

Deane's earnest and convincing plea was 

successful, he was told that three million livres 

would be furnished Grand, our banker, on our 

account in quarterly payments the next year, 

' and perhaps something from Spain. 

This did not clear the debt ; the cost of supplies 
had been so large, the prize money so trifling, 
the expense of refitting so great, the money 
spent on released prisoners so considerable ; but it 



Signs the Treaty with France 105 

enabled the Commissioners to go on with the con- 
tracts for supplies, though news of the defeat 
at Brandywine and the progress of Burgoyne 
in Canada deepened their anxiety. 

It is not strange that Vergennes should have 
been so cautious; the evacuation of Ticonteroga 
and Crown Point laid the road to our frontier open, 
without a fort or redoubt to impede. After the 
affair at Brandywine, the two capital cities of New 
York and Philadelphia were practically in the 
hands of the British, as were also the town and 
harbor of Newport; a victorious army at Albany 
threatened to separate New England from the 
other colonies ; British superiority at sea threatened 
to destroy our commerce, and if England should 
declare war on France the prospects of the colo- 
nists were forlorn enough. In after years Deane 
said that he had ceased to criticize the French 
Ministry for its lack of zeal in our time of distress. 

September, October, and November, 1777, 
passed. The general opinion in France was that 
the Americans would be obliged to submit. The 
Commissioners were anxious to have France de- 
clare for America, believing that such declaration 
would close the war, but no word came from the 
Court. 

The Commissioners and the French Ministry had 



^o6 Silas Deane 

no communication by writing even, except by 
petitions and requests to which a verbal answer 
was sometimes given, but more commonly there 
was no answer; the French authorities at Nantes 
restored prize ships to English owners; when the 
Amphitrite returned from America, her captain 
was imprisoned for carrying supplies to the in- 
surgents. 

In December, the whole situation changed when 
J. L. Austin arrived from Boston with the reviving 
and important news of the surrender of General 
Eurgoyne. "A sovereign cordial to the dying, " it 
roused and reanimated the friends of America in 
every part of Europe. 

During all this dreary period, the trials of the 
Commissioners were increased by the suspicious 
and uneasy disposition of Arthur Lee. Deane 
writes: "From the first Mr. Lee gave Dr. FrankHn 
and me much trouble which was constantly in- 
creasing; and the dissatisfaction with and con- 
tempt for the French nation in general, which he 
took no pains to conceal, often gave us pain, and 
rendered himself suspected by many. " 

The report of Burgoyne's defeat was followed 
by interviews between the Commissioners and the 
French Ministry concerning a treaty. In that 
time of strain, so violent and irrational was the 



Signs the Treaty with France 107 

disposition of Lee, that Franklin was of the 
opinion that his head was affected. After much 
discussion the treaty was signed at Passy on 
Feb. 6, 1778, with the understanding that for the^ 
present it should be kept a secret. 

On the night of the day the treaties were signed, 
Deane noted that Lee's private secretary started 
hastily for England, and in a day or two Fox 
spoke in Parliament of the treaty as signed. 
Lee's responsibility for this has been declared un- 
proven by a writer of some standing, and Durand, 
in his New Materials on the American War, 
says that Lee's correspondence with Congress is 
a series of injurious invsinuations, implying that 
Franklin was little better than a robber, while 
alliance between France and the United States was 
due to him alone. More than that, for since De 
Lomenie examined the documents in the French 
Archives, records have been unearthed which 
go to show that Lee was substantially a traitor. 
The moment he was told that Louis XVI had 
accepted the treaty of commerce and friendship 
with the United States, and when he was about 
to sign it with Franklin and Deane, Lee wrote 
Shelburne and advised him that "if England 
wanted to prevent closer ties between France and 
the United States she must not delay." M. 



io8 Silas Deane 

Doniel states that Lee was in the pay of the party 
opposed to Lord North. We have no reason to 
question the honesty or accuracy of these men, 
who have examined the full records in Paris, but 
Arthur Lee has enough to answer for without the 
charge of traitor. 

Thus was effected the second important object 
which the Commissioners had in view. Needed 
supplies had been secured, and nearly all had been 
shipped, and all save a part of one cargo reached 
Portsmouth in safety, and now treaties of friend- 
ship and commerce had been signed. 

Deane determined to devote his attention to the 
task of securing a loan from Holland ; he had been 
in correspondence with men of rank there, and had 
been assured of assistance of men of standing in 
France; the business of buying and forwarding 
supplies had been conducted so covertly, and in so 
many places, that two or three months would be 
consumed in collecting the accounts, and Deane 
planned spending that time in Holland, but on 
March 4, he received a letter from Lovell with 
the order of Congress of Dec. 8, 1777, requesting 
him to return to America to report to Congress on 
the condition of affairs in Europe. 

Knowing what he did of the mischievous and 
underhanded activity of Lee, the active mind 



V 



Signs the Treaty with France 109 

and not too sanguine temper of Deane may have 
given hirti some uneasiness at the peremptory- 
summons. 

He had long been under a heavy strain; in 
addition to the financial and political demands 
made upon him, a great bereavement had come 
into his home, of which we are reminded in the 
following letter to C. W. F. Dumas, written Oct. 
1,1777: 

I feel myself sensibly affected on receiving your 

kind and friendly condolence on my misfortune; 

though the situation of my country is sufficient 
1 to engross my whole attention, yet the loss I have 

met with is not less heavy on my spirits, nor does it 

I fall the lighter on me for coming attended with public 

1 misfortunes and distresses. 

I 

I The explanation of this sorrowful letter is 

I found in the following item from the Connecticut 
^ Gazette of New London of June 27, 1777. 
; "Died at Wethersfield, after a long indis- 
position, Mrs. Elizabeth Deane, Consort of Silas 
Deane, Esquire, now in France, and daughter of 
Gurdon Saltonstall of this town." 

x\s Deane turned his face homeward after two 
years' absence, he must have felt a deep sense of 
satisfaction with the work accomplished, which 
no doubt went far to relieve the shadow which 
was approaching. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE RECALL 

"IV/^ have seen how the anxious summer and 
^" autumn of 1777 were followed by the good 
news that Burgoyne had surrendered. 

On Oct. 31, at ten in the morning, the brigan- 
tine Perch sailed from Long Wharf in Boston, carry- 
ing J. L. Austin of that city with messages from 
the Massachusetts Council announcing the surren- 
der at Saratoga and the capture of six thousand 
men. 

It was the first great victory for America, and 
is reckoned by Creasy as worthy of a place among 
the fifteen decisive battles of the world. 

The winds and tides sped the happy vessel, and 
in thirty days she reached the French coast. On 
Nov. 30, Austin announced the news in France. 

Leaving Nantes in a chaise, drawn by three 
horses abreast, he hastened to Versailles, and 
thence to Passy. As he drove into the courtyard 
he was met by Franklin who asked, " Sir, is Phila- 
delphia taken ? ' * "It is, " was the reply, ' ' but. Sir, 

no 



The Trying Recall iii 

I have greater news than that : General Burgoyne 
and his whole army are prisoners." 

Beaumarchais was then visiting the Commis- 
sioners at Passy, and he started for Paris with 
such eagerness to carry the news that the carriage 
tipped over and he nearly broke his neck. But 
the casualty did not weaken his joy. "My right 
arm is cut," he said, "the bones of my neck are 
nearly crushed, but the charming news from 
America is a balm to my wounds. " 

Paul Jones, commander of the Ranger, and 
founder of the American 'navy, had a part in the 
celebration. On arriving in Nantes this brave 
corsair found himself one of the officers of a recog- 
nized Republic and hearing from the French Ad- 
miral that his salute would be returned, a little 
after sunset the Ranger discharged thirteen guns 
in honor of the French Administration, and 
in reply nine guns saluted the flag of the United 
States. 

On hearing the news, Vergennes was as im- 
patient to close the treaty as he had previously 
been reluctant, saying: "The power which first 
recognizes American independence will gather all 
the fruits of the war. France must anticipate such 
action on England's part by greater speed in 
making the colonists our friends. " 



112 Silas Deane 

A ship was soon on its way to carry the joyous 
news that Louis had decided to recognize the new 
RepubHc. The Commissioners wrote that the 
news of the surrender of Burgoyne had called 
forth universal joy in France, as if it had been a 
victory of their own troops, as it was a victory won 
by arms from its arsenals. 

While the vessel was bearing the welcome news 
to America, another passed over to France, bearing 
a very different message for one of the Commis- 
sioners, the man who had represented his country 
ithere the longest, whose fidelity, energy, and suc- 
cess were unquestioned. 

At last the succession of underhanded and dis- 
paraging letters of Arthur Lee bore fruit, and 
Deane must turn from a life of incessant toil and 
care to years of exhausting and shameful facing 
a fogbank of malice and lies. 

When Deane learned of the action of Congress 
he consulted Franklin, who said that, notwith- 
standing the unsettled state of the accounts, it 
would be best for him to go at once, that his stay in 
America would not be for any length of time, and 
he would be back for the final settlement. 

Deane then waited on Vergennes and told him of 
the recall : he found him friendly, and willing to do 
anything in his power; he offered the use of a 



The Trying Recall 113 

frigate, or even of a ship of the line to be put into 
instant readiness to carry Deane to America, and 
said affairs would not probably suffer in hia 
absence. 

Deane, finding it a favorable opportunity, took 
occasion to urge an immediate declaration of the 
treaties to the Court of London, and the sending 
out of a strong squadron, then nearly ready at 
Toulon. 

After several interviews on the subject the meas- 
ure was adopted; Deane agreed that the affair 
should be a secret on his part except to Franklin 
and Dr. Bancroft ; the fleet was ordered to go direct 
to Delav/are Bay, and it carried four skillful 
captains, who were familiar with the coast of 
the United States. 

On March 16, Stormont left Paris for London, 
and on March 20, the American Commissioners 
were formally presented to Louis XVI by Ver- 
gennes. It was not as brilliant as some other 
ceremonies which have occurred at Versailles, 
but it was most gratifying to Franklin, Deane, and 
Lee. Franklin was less affected by the splendid 
decorations of the palace than he was by the fact 
that it was ill-kept, and sweeping and other sani- 
tary provisions neglected. 

After the reception, the Commissioners called 



114 Silas Deane 

to pay their respects to Madame de Lafayette, 
who was at Versailles, and to assure her of the 
gratitude of America for her husband's efforts. 
Then they dined with Vergennes. 

On the night of March 31, Deane started for the 
coast, having obtained from Grand an account 
of all the moneys received or paid on the public 
account, which he carried with him, and duplicates 
were given to Franklin and Lee, and with the 
former he left the public papers and an explanation 
of the accounts. It was all he could do in the 
little time at his disposal. The greater part of the 
accounts being unsettled, no general account 
could be made ; moreover, the order for the recall 
and Lo veil's letter, which contained all the in- 
formation Deane had concerning the motives for 
the recall, gave him to understand that all that 
was desired of him was information on the state 
of affairs in Europe. 

I by no means concluded [he wrote later]- that 
I was so suddenly called upon to render in an exact 
state of an account which demanded necessarily a 
much longer time to complete than was allowed me by 
the terms of the recall; nor, in addition to this, could 
I possibly conceive that the nature of the recall was 
such as to require of me individually an account of 
the joint transactions in money matters of myself 
and colleagues. I fell in with M. Gerard on my way 



The Trying Recall 115 

to Toulon, and we embarked, happy at the great 
prospects before us. 

How mistaken Deane was in his bright hopes 
will appear in our next chapter, but here is 
the place to describe the events which led to the 
recall. 

We have seen that the origin of active French 
participation in our struggle was in the con- 
versations of Arthur Lee and Beaumarchais, in the 
glowing language and large assurance of both of 
those ardent and imaginative men. When Lee 
learned that Deane had been appointed rather 
than himself to carry those brilliant dreams into 
reality, he was bitterly disappointed, and he set 
at work, with more or less deliberation, to ruin 
Deane and secure his recall. 

He visited Deane; he tried to get Deane into 
trouble in the matter of Reed and Langdon; he 
burdened the mails with messages to his friends in 
Virginia and Philadelphia; he filled the mind of 
every m^n in Congress he could influence with 
suspicions toward his colleague. He did not lim- 
it his attack to Deane, but described Franklin as 
indolent, incapable, and selfish. 

Lee wrote of Franklin : 

His abilities are great and reputation high, removed 



ii6 Silas Deane 

as he is to so considerable a distance from the obser- 
vation of his constituents. If he is not guided by 
principles of virtue and honor, these abilities and 
that reputation may produce the most mischievous 
effects. On my conscience I believe him to be under 
no such internal restraint. 

Some of his work must have been more skillfully 
done than that. Gerard saw his insincerity and 
meanness. In a letter to Vergennes of Sept. 2"], 
1779, Gerard characterized the statements of Lee 
as "an absurd tissue of lies and sarcasms, which 
can do nothing but compromise those who have 
the misfortune to be in correspondence with him. " 

We are not to think of Lee as lacking in patriot- 
ism and devotion; the implications of Deane and 
Beaumarchais, that he was willing to play into the 
hands of the English, we would rather regard as 
unproven, though there are suspicious facts which 
injure him if they do not convict; but there is 
no question about his persistent and venomous 
endeavor to undermine Deane. Lee was a man 
of sanguine temperament, with the fire and vehe- 
mence of a Southerner ; credulous, hasty, impetu- 
ous, he allowed his conduct to be shaped by a 
mind corroded by suspicion, jealousy, and dis- 
trust. He described himself clearly when he told 
Deane that he was too apt to yield to suspicions. 



The Trying Recall 117 

He said: ''Unhappily my fate has thrown me into 
pubHc Hfe, and the impatience of my nature makes 
me embark in it with an impetuosity and impru- 
dence which increase the evils to which it is neces- 
sarily subject." 

Lee was a man of wide scholarship ; his opportu- 
nities for education were of the highest order in 
England and Scotland. While a student he had 
formed friendships with such men as Burke, 
Glynn, and Sir William Jones; he was fearless, 
industrious, and tireless in the pursuit of his ob- 
ject. He was not averse to storm and struggle in 
pursuing his aims. Alert, energetic, remorseless, 
everything must be sacrificed to achieve his am- 
bitions. 

Deane was by nature more formal, cold, perhaps 
a little haughty, and when he came in contact with 
the enthusiastic, ambitious, acrimonious Lee 
^ there was no love lost on either side. Deane had 
the Secret Committee behind him, and the pedestal 
of a high office, in which he had been placed, be- 
neath his feet, and he did not hesitate to let Lee 
know that he must occupy a lower position. Five 
months of stiff service in Paris by himself, of 
necessity, gave Deane a purchase which he was not 
slow to make the most of, and this gave little joy 
to Lee who wanted that central office. 



ii8 Silas Deane 

It is perhaps not quite fair to lay upon Lee all 
the blame for the altercations which for years dis- 
y turbed the peace of Congress, and brought such 
agony upon Deane. The conditions in which they 
were placed ; the two men were so unlike each other ; 
their aims so antagonistic, that nothing less than 
an angelic visitation or a daily miracle could have 
averted quarrels. From the temper of letters 
written and words uttered it appears that the 
angels meddled as little as did Franklin. 

The first trace of open difficulty, appears in a 
letter from Deane to Vergennes, Aug. 22, 1776, 
from which we quote: ''I was this morning in- 
formed of the arrival of Mr. Arthur Lee, and that 
he would be in Paris to-morrow. This was sur- 
prising to me as I knew of no particular affair that 
might bring him here. " 

Four weeks later Lee was back in London, and 
three months later he returned to Paris as one of 
the three Commissioners. The first seeds of dis- 
cord were planted, a condition which led Congress 
by a large majority to put upon its journals a 
resolve, "that suspicions and animosities have 
arisen among the late and present Commissioners, 
highly prejudicial to the honor and interest of 
the United States." 

When Franklin and Lee joined Deane, there 



The Trying Recall 119 

were peculiar difficulties in the way of forwarding 
*' supplies to America, as we have seen in the last 
chapter : Franklin had no experience in commercial 
matters, and Lee had neither experience nor sym- 
pathy with Deane, who was not unwilling to shoul- 
der responsibility and complete the work which 
he had so well begun. 

Moreover, it seemed best that Lee should go to 
other countries in the interest of the insurgents. 
Lee was consulted about the contracts when 
possible, but it was not fair for Lee to harass the 
I ears of Congress with clandestine complaints 

I about Deane because he did not give him a voice 

! in the contracts with Beaumarchais for supplies, 

Holker for clothing, and Montheu for ships, at a 
i time when Deane was straining every nerve to get 

cannon from Strassburg, muskets, fusils, powder, 
and shot from magazines in the interior to Bor- 
deaux, Havre, Dunkirk, and Nantes. 

It was a difficult achievement to complete the 
task at all, in view of the repeated delays and inter- 
positions of the French Government, the hostility 
and complaints of the English officers, and the 
scarcity of money; one is tempted to use strong 
words to characterize Lee for criticizing Deane to 
members of Congress in the bitterest and most 
unsparing terms, because of his unbusinesslike 



120 Silas Deane 

methods, and the confusion of the accounts, which 
of necessity attended affairs which had to be con- 
■ ducted with stealth and concealment. 

Another element in Lee's discontent seems to 
have been the fact that, when he returned from 
Prussia, he found that Deane was so acceptable at 
Versailles, was so well received by the Ministers, 
was so highly esteemed among other men of 
eminence, was in such correspondence with in- 
fluential men near and far, that he was wielding 
great power, and likely to exert still larger in- 
fluence, while Lee was comparatively unknown. 

A man of Lee's disposition, who considered 
himself as one of the prime movers in the Rev- 
olution, did not enjoy the situation: and it is 
barely possible that Deane did not apply any 
balm to the wounded ambition of his unhappy 
colleague. 

Then came the adventure of Lee's mind in a 
field in which he was an expert. How much 
sincerity there was in his work of studied and 
persistent defamation we cannot say. It is chari- 
table to believe that he so brooded over the situa- 
tion, so fed his diseased imagination, so nursed 
his wounded and disappointed feelings, that he 
came to view himself as a martyr, and Deane and 
his friends as his deadly enemies. 



The Trying Recall 121 

Perhaps he really believed that Beaumarchais 
and Deane were making vast sums of money at 
the expense of the public. The plots and strata- 
gems in his own unwholesome mind may have 
made it possible for him to believe that selfish 
deliriums controlled the Yankee Commissioner. 

He seems to have believed that a combination 
was writing paragraphs to his discredit, and pro- 
curing their insertion in European Gazettes; also 
writing letters to men of influence in America, 
and that the head of this powerful conspiracy was 
Deane. 

In such a state of mind, this victim of delusion 
or malice, or both, began to write to friends in 
America about Deane. Lee had two brothers in 
Congress; one of them, R. H. Lee, was a man of 
decided weight; the Adamses from Massachu- 
setts were warm friends of the Lees, and before 
long these and others, like Laurens, Duer, Tom 
Paine, and Izard, were hard on the track of the 
doomed man. 

The following are extracts from Arthur Lee's 
letters to his brother, R. H. Lee, dated nine days 
after the treaty was signed : 

My absence and the care with which things have 
been concealed from me have disqualified me to judge 
of the truth of the suspicions, which are general, of 



122 Silas Deane 

Deane's having had douceurs from the public con- 
tractors and others in order to conciliate his patron- 
age; and that he is in a sort of partnership with 
Holker, Sabatier, Montheu, and others, in which the 
public money and influence are made subservient 
to private profit. 

Again : 

Whenever he is removed from the control of money, 
the truth will come out fast enough, and the persons 
who, under his auspices, have been defrauding the 
public, may be brought to account. Upon the whole, 
these are dangerous men, and capable of any wicked- 
ness to avenge themselves on those who are suspected 
of counteracting their purposes. The calling to ac- 
count for money we have expended, the taking of the 
expenditure out of their hands for the future, or the 
removal of him who has misapplied it, would lead to 
discovery and proofs before time has enabled him to 
prevent them. 

Can anything be more unfair than such an 
attack upon a colleague concerning matters, of 
: whose details the accuser did not even profess 
^ to have any accurate knowledge? How could 
such insinuations do other than create preju- 
dice and affix a stigma? If Lee believed these 
^ charges to be well grounded, it was his duty to 
discover the proofs; and it certainly was his duty 
to keep his suspicions to himself until he could 
issue them with the facts to support them. 



The Trying Recall 123 

Furthermore, simple decency demanded that he 
should present the accusations first of all to 
Deane himself, that he might have an opportunity, 
if possible, to explain them. 

A charge on mere suspicion is a calumny, and it 
is hard to find language strong enough to condemn 
the criminality of a man who is in daily inter- 
course with a colleague, in an office which implies 
mutual confidence and responsibility, and at the 
same time is doing all he can to destroy his in- 
fluence and break down his reputation among the 
men, three thousand miles away, who were re- 
sponsible for keeping him in office, and who had 
no opportunity to sift the facts and learn the 
evidence. 

Lee wrote to several men with greater latitude 
of censure than the extracts we have given ; these 
letters were shown to others, and the effect could 
not be other than in the highest degree injurious. 

So strong and malicious was Lee's slander of 
Franklin that, but for the influence of Gerard, it 
is probable he too would have been unseated. 

Deane's fate was fixed by a selfishness, a cruelty, 
an avarice which the unfortunate object of Lee's 
meanness did not understand, until he had vainly 
and for years struggled and fought. 

Every breeze that wafted his vessel homeward 



124 Silas Deane 

bore him nearer a nest of serpents, which the 
X^unning and unprincipled Lee was industriously 
\^ hatching. Those who were not convinced that 
, Deane was in the wrong, would have their con- 
fidence shaken by the bold insinuations of a man so 
able, so well-posted, and so competent to under- 
stand the whole situation as Lee. Men of caution 
and good judgment would find it easy to suspect 
Deane on the repeated declarations of a colleague 
who unblushingly linked his name with the names 
of three eminent French merchants as men in 
league to defraud the government. 

This is the underside of the story of Deane's 
recall. Deane suspected that Lee was working 
against him, but he felt a certain security in the 
fact that he possessed the confidence of Franklin, 
who was, as he said, his "guide, philosopher, and 
friend." 

Deane carried with him a letter from Franklin 
to the president of Congress, dated March 31, 
1778, as follows: 

My colleague, Mr. Deane, being recalled by Con- 
gress, and no reasons given that yet appeared here, 
it is apprehended to be the effect of some misrepresen- 
tations from an enemy or two at Paris and at Nantes. 
I have no doubt that he will be able clearly to justify 
himself; but having lived intimately with him more 



The Trying Recall 125 

than fifteen months, the greatest part of the time in the 
same house, and a constant witness of his public con- 
duct, I cannot avoid giving this testimony, though un- 
asked, that I esteem him a faithful, active, and able 
minister, who to my knowledge has done in various 
ways great and important services to his country, 
whose interests I wish may always by every one in 
her employ be as much and as efficiently promoted. 

The opinion of Beaumarchais is to the same 
effect. In a secret memoir for the ministers of the 
king he wrote: 

By character and by ambition Mr. Arthur Lee was 
first jealous of Mr. Deane. He finished by becoming 
his enemy, which always happens to small minds, 
more occupied in supplanting their rivals than in 
surpassing them in merit. 

The connections of Mr. Lee in England, and two 
brothers whom he has in Congress, have made him 
recently an important and dangerous man. 

His plan has always been to prefer between France 
and England the power which would most surely 
bring him to fortune. England has some advantages 
for him. He has often explained himself on the sub- 
ject in his libertine suppers. But to succeed, it was 
necessary to get rid of a colleague so formidable by 
his patriotism as Mr. Deane. This he has accom- 
plished by causing him to be suspected in several 
points of view by Congress. Having learned that the 
American army regarded the foreign military officers 
with displeasure, he threw poison into the zeal of 
his associate who sent them. At the same time, the 



126 Silas Deane 

conduct of some Frenchmen, who escaped from our 
Islands, justifying perhaps the repugnance they felt 
for our officers in America, Mr. Lee profited by these 
dispositions to affirm to Congress that Mr. Deane 
had, on his own motion, and against good advice, 
sent these officers, who were as expensive as useless 
to the Republic. 

A second motive for the recall is the officious care 
Mr. Lee has taken to write incessantly to Congress, 
that all that the house of Hortalez had sent, whether 
of merchandise or munitions of war, were a present 
from France to America, that he had been told so by 
Mr. Hortalez himself. 

Nothing was easier than for the politic Mr. Lee to 
envenom the conduct of Mr. Deane by giving it more 
the effect of secret menaces tending to favor certain 
demands for money, of which he afterwards received 
a share of the profits; all of which explains very clearly 
the astonishing silence that Congress has kept upon 
more than ten of my letters which were full of detail. 
This silence is what has determined me to send an 
honest and discreet man who can penetrate the 
foundation of this intrigue. 

To-day Mr. Deane, loaded with grief, finds himself 
suddenly and harshly recalled. He is ordered to go 
to give an account of his conduct and to justify him- 
self from many faults which they do not designate. 

He had resolved in his resentment not to go until 
Congress had sent him the charges, not wishing, as 
he said, to go to deliver himself into the hands of his 
personal enemies, without carrying with him justifi- 
cations which would confound them, but I induced 
him to change his determination. 



The Trying Recall 127 

After explaining his conviction that Arthur Lee 
was a "lance with two heads," and, through his 
brother WilHam, was playing into the hands of the 
English, Beaumarchais assured Deane that his 
vindication was assured. 

Your justification [he said] is in my portfolio. 
Lee accuses you of having on your authority sent offi- 
cers to America, and I have in my hands a letter in 
cypher for the politic Lee, who presses me warmly to 
send engineers and officers to the aid of America, and 
that letter was written before your arrival in France. 
Mr. Lee pretends to have received from me the 
assurance that all my consignments were presents 
from France, and that all the rest is a romance of your 
cupidity ; but in the same portfolio I have the bargain 
in cypher between Lee and myself, which proves that 
correspondences were established by this very Lee, 
on the basis of an active and recipient trade, and not 
otherwise. 

Then you did not imagine on your own motion that 
America had need of officers. Upon your arrival in 
France, by following errors begun by Lee, you cannot 
be guilty in the eyes of Congress for having regarded 
as an honorable commerce what was established 
under that form. 

Beaumarchais says that he persuaded Deane to 
brave the storm, confident that his honest and 
patriotic character would be established and his 
enemies be put to shame. 

This friendly and ardent Frenchman also wrote 



128 Silas Deane 

to Congress a letter which is dated March 23, 
1778, and after explaining the origin of his work 
for the United States, he says that he wrote Lee 
in London of his project of forming a fictitious 
business house called Roderique, Hortalez & Co. 
to send military supplies, and Lee made no reply 
to his letter, and just then Deane appeared on the 
scene. 

From the moment of his arrival [writes Beau- 
marchais] I corresponded with no one else, and it is 
in consequence of our mutual efforts, his powers which 
he communicated to me, the details with which he 
furnished me, and the specific demands he made for 
supplies and munitions of war, besides his repeated 
promises that you would meet our shipments with 
prompt returns, that I prevailed upon my friends to 
entrust me with sufficient funds. He alone has over- 
come difficulties on every hand; and without the re- 
liance that we have placed on his promises, I should 
never, very likely, have succeeded in realizing this 
enterprise, which before his arrival was a doubtful and 
undeveloped plan. 

Although the returns pledged by him have not 
arrived within the time fixed, we have not indulged in 
reproaches, observing that he was even more dis- 
tressed than we ourselves. I venture to assure you. 
Gentlemen, that had he not continually endeavored 
to maintain our confidence during this delay, I should 
perhaps have had the pain of being compelled to 
abandon a venture, that offered only risk, with scarcely 
a hope of profit. 



The Trying Recall 129 

I have never treated with any other person in 
France, and as the other Commissioners have ever 
been lacking in common civility to me, I testify that if 
my zeal, my advances of money, and my shipments of 
supplies and merchandise have been acceptable to the 
august Congress, their gratitude is due to the inde- 
fatigable exertions of Mr. Deane through their com- 
mercial affairs. 

A letter was also sent to Deane from Count de 
Vergennes dated March 26, 1778, praying that he 
might find in his own country the same sentiments 
of regard he had inspired in France. 

You need not ask [he wrote] for more than those 
I entertain for you, and shall preserve for you as long 
as I shall live. 

The king, desirous of giving you a personal testi- 
mony of his satisfaction with your conduct, has 
charged me to inform M. the president of Congress 
of it; this is the object of the letters which M. Gerard 
will deliver you for Mr. Hancock. He will also de- 
liver you a box with the portrait of the king. 

The box was of gold, and was set with diamonds. 

With these testimonials, and the assurance of his 
own conscience that he deserved well of the Re- 
public, with much solicitude, yet with strong 
hopes that all would be well, Deane reached the 
United States. 

The work of Deane in Europe, which he had 
wrought so zealously, and with such success for 



130 Silas Deane 

nearly two \-ear5, was over. B3' reason of circum- 
stances he could not control he was compelled to 
work in intimate alliance with a nan with whom 
he had Httle in common, and the result vras what 
we might natiu^y expect. 

In the words of James Lovell in a letter to 
Franklin a 3'ear later : "In my opinion, the improper 
tripHcate appointment for the Ccur: :i France 
produced, in ver^r nat-iral consequence, suspicion 
and animosity." 

Thus returned to his native countr;.- the ntan 
who was acciinted two years before, zy an ai.e 
committee e: Ccngress consisting c: rrankhn. 
Moiris. Jay, Harrison, and Dickinsin. to secure 
suet rs ::r America in her hour c: need. Ee ha a 
performed weU his task: despite his ntistakes. he 
fulfilled the task which was set for ''-''^' t : a: : the 
suppHes reached Portsmouth in tirae ::r the tant- 
paign of 1777, which came t: 1:5 a.uiva :.:n in 
the surrender of Burgo^-ne . T h e t u e s : : : : - - a: e t h er 
the hist or}" oi the gh^naas ' zI.t :: 1777 wiuli. 
have been what it was, had the rancorous Arthur 
Lee been in the office Deane so abh' filled, we 
need not stay to discuss. Deane did the work he 
was bidden perform, and the victory at Saratoga 
was followed b}- the treaties with France of Feb. 
6, 1778, and when Deane landed in America it was 



The Tn ing Recall 131 






±. 1777 — -" 



132 Silas Deane 

Things go on worse and worse every day among 
ourselves, and my situation is more painful. I see 
in every department neglect, dissipation, and private 
schemes. Being in trust here, I am responsible for 
what I cannot prevent, and these very men will pro- 
bably be the instruments of having me called to an 
account for their misdeeds. There is but one way of 
redressing this, and remedying the public evil, and 
that is the plan I sent you before, of appointing the 
Doctor to Vienna; Deane to Holland; Jennings to 
Madrid, and leaving me here. 

Lee's letters abound in vague charges, meager 
hints at the facts, frequent references to plunder 
and waste. One thing the scheming author 
was clear about — France was the only place for 
the play of his genius, he was the one man capable 
of turning the "great wheel, " whose skillful revo- 
lutions would transform chaos to order, and 
usher in a new era in the annals of diplomacy; 
and the recall of Silas Deane was a cog in the 
political machinery of Arthur Lee. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE HOSTILITY OF CONGRESS 

/CROSSING the Atlantic in Comte d'Estaing's 
^^ flagship, in company with Gerard de Rayne- 
val, the first French Minister to America, Deane 
reached Philadelphia July lo, 1778, after a voyage 
of ninety-one days, and reported to Congress two 
days later. 

A cordial greeting — a delegation from Congress, 
salutes, soldiers drawn up in the streets — met the 
Admiral and the Minister of our powerful ally. "I 
had the honor of being present the last Sabbath," 
wrote Henry Marchant, a member of Congress 
from Rhode Island, "at the most interesting inter- 
view that ever took place in America, or perhaps 
in the world, between Monsieur Gerard, the 
plenipotentiary of France, and the president of 
Congress .... This interview was most cordial, 
generous, and noble. " 

One would suppose that Silas Deane might 
naturally expect an ovation equally cordial with 

that of the Frenchmen, for through his energy, 

133 



134 Silas Deane 

address, and watchfulness, combined with the 
friendhness of Vergennes and the French Court, 
and the activity of Beaumarchais, eight shiploads 
of military supplies had been forwarded to the 
American army for its campaign of 1777-8. He 
had commissioned Pulaski, De Kalb, Lafayette, 
and Steuben as major-generals; he had signed the 
treaties of amity and commerce with Franklin 
and Lee; last of all he had persuaded Vergennes 
to send D'Estaing with a fleet of fourteen ships of 
the line and several frigates, a force sufficient to 

"" announce to the world that France was willing to 
do her utmost to carry out the provisions of the 

^ treaty. 

Of this last achievement Deane wrote : 

It was in my view sufficient to satisfy the utmost of 
' my ambition or wishes. To this I applied myself and 
"'was fortunately successful. It is no vanity or pre- 
sumption to say that it was, next to concluding the 
treaties, the greatest and most important service that 
could in any circumstances be rendered to this country, 
and the application was made and the design effected 
by myself solely. These are facts, well known and 
acknowledged even by my enemies. 

Reaching Delaware Bay, July 10, he sent a 
message to the president of Congress, announcing 
his arrival, and that he should leave the ship in 
the afternoon and go to Philadelphia; and as soon 



Congress Hostile 135 

as he had recovered from an intermittent fever he 
would p^y his respects to Congress, and offer his 
congratulations over the glorious events which had 
recently occurred. 

Henry Laurens, president of Congress, welcomed 
Deane with all the cordiality and warmth of which 
his solemn nature was capable; there were many 
others, true friends, who congratulated Deane on 
his success ; but the days went by, and there was no 
invitation from Congress to make a report . Deane 
sent word that he had recovered, and was ready 
to tell of the state of affairs in Europe for which he 
had been recalled. A month passed before any . 
notice was taken of him, and on Aug. 15, it was 
ordered that he be introduced to Congress. 

The letters from Franklin and Beatimarchais 
were read, expressing their confidence in Deane, 
and their high appreciation of his work. 

He gave some information concerning European 
politics, and was ordered to attend on Monday, 
Aug. 17, and again on Friday, Aug. 21. 

On Sept. 8, he wrote to ask if further attend- 
ance was required, but he received no reply. 

On Sept. 8, he wrote John Hancock, declaring . 
that his patience was worn out, that he could not 
and would not longer endure a treatment which 
carried with it marks of the deepest ingratitude, 



136 Silas Deane 

that if Congress had not time to hear a man who 
came four thousand miles under the pretense of 
receiving intelligence from him, it was time that 
the good people of the Continent should know the 
manner in which their representatives conduct 
public business, and how they treat their fellow- 
bitizens who have rendered the coimtry most im- 
portant services. He said he knew that the 
majority were disposed to do him justice, and they 
complained of the delay, but a few men could put 
off the decision of any question, by one means or 
another, as long as they pleased. 

On Sept. 18, the committee, to which had been 
referred letters from Arthur Lee, reported. On 
the same day a member in his place informed the 
House that he had information that Carmichael 
"had charged Deane with misappropriation of 
public money. He was ordered to reduce the 
charge to writing. 

On Sept. 19, hostile letters from Izard were 
introduced. 

On Sept. 23, William Carmichael was sum- 
moned to the bar and examined upon 
oath. 

On Sept. 24, Deane asked for copies of Izard's 
letters. 

On Sept. 28, Carmichael was questioned; no 



Congress Hostile 137 

opportunity was given Deane to explain, and no 
direct charges or complaints were made. 

It was perhaps about this time that Hosmer, 
a member of Congress, whose failing health com- 
pelled his resignation, told Deane of the con- 
spiracy against him, of the poisoning of the minds 
of many members by Arthur Lee, and of their pur- 
pose to wear him out by repeated delays. He 
said he had overheard some of Deane' s enemies 
talking the matter over, and their plan was, not to 
bring specific charges, but to destroy him by delay. 

On Oct. 12, 1778, Deane sent to the president 
of Congress answers to the letters of Arthur Lee 
and Ralph Izard, and wrote that he had been three 
months in attendance, that his health, interests, and 
honor would not permit him to stay much longer 
in America, that he wished to go into the country 
the next day, and to engage passage for France for 
the next month. We are not to think of Deane as 
imagining for a moment that he was to serve again 
as Commissioner ; John Adams had been chosen to 
his place; but he had business in France which 
demanded his attention. 

But Congress took no definite action on his case, 
though reminded repeatedly of Deane' s anxiety for 
the closing of the case. 

Deane said that in the letters of Izard there were 



138 Silas Deane 

charges against all the Commissioners, but that 
'Lee had been left out wholly, and the blame had 
been laid solely on Franklin and himself; and then 
he proceeds to represent the Doctor as entirely 
under Deane's influence. 

''My situation," he wrote, "is peculiarly un- 
fortimate; Izard's letters were written with as 
much design of impeaching Franklin's conduct, 
yet it operates solely against me." 

Here is a sample of the contents of Izard's 
letters: *'If the whole world had been searched it 
would have been impossible to find a person more 
imfit than Deane for the trust with which Congress 
favored him." Such a statement was an insult to 
the Committee, of which men of the judgment of 
Morris and Dickinson were members ; a man who 
could write such a statement would have no in- 
fluence on fair-minded men. 

One of the charges made by the gang of con- 
spirators against Deane was that he had such 
hauteur and presumption as to give offense to 
every gentleman with whom he had any business. 

To this Deane replied : 

I appeal to the business I transacted. I arrived in 
Paris in July without funds, uncertain of remittances, 
without credit, ignorant of the language and manners 
of France, an utter stranger to the persons in power 



Congress Hostile 139 

and influence in the Court; the news of our mis- 
fortunes in Canada arrived in France before me, and 
of subsequent misfortunes immediately after. 

The artifices and opposition of the British had to 
be overcome, yet before Dec. i, he had forwarded 
thirty thousand stands of arms, an equal number 
of suits of clothes, over two hundred and fifty 
pieces of brass artillery ; tents and other stores to a 
large amount had been shipped from the different 
ports. Many of these supplies were in use against 
Burgoyne; he had established a correspondence 
with Holland, Russia, and other nations, and laid 
the fotmdation for a grant of money from Versailles. 

The second charge was, that Arthur Lee said 
that his despatches to Congress had been opened 
by Deane. Of this Deane said that Lee never in- 
timated it to him, and it was a groundless caltimny. 

On Oct. 12, Deane sent Congress a letter, in 
which he took up Lee's charge, "that millions had 
been spent, and almost everything remains to be 
paid for. " In reply to this Deane insists: 

Mr. Lee has in his hands the accounts of all the 
monies received and paid out on the public account. 
He knows that the total amount received by the 
Commissioners, to the time of my leaving Paris, was 
3'753> 250 livres, and the whole expense to that day 
was 4,046,293 livres; the greater part of this was ex- 



140 Silas Deane 

pended by and with Mr. Lee's orders. The whole is 
well known to him, and I sent him in writing an 
explanation of every payment made in his absence. 

What I have observed in Mr. Lee's letter confirms 
me in the opinion, which Dr. Franklin and some others 
have for some time had of him, that from a long in- 
dulgence of his jealous and suspicious disposition and 
habits of mind, he at last arrived on the very borders 
of insanity, and at times he even passes that line; 
and it gives me pleasure, though a melancholy one, 
that I can attribute to the misfortune of his head what 
otherwise I must place to a depravity of the heart. 

Deane refutes the assertion of Lee that con- 
tracts were concealed from him with the greatest 
care, and adds; ''I never knew Mr. Lee satisfied 
with any person he did business with, whether of 
public or private nature, and his dealings, whether 
for trifles or things of importance, almost con- 
stantly ended in dispute and sometimes in litigious 
quarrels." 

Through tiresome months of the autumn and 
winter of 1778, and on until more than a year had 
gone by, Deane waited on Congress, compelled at 
heavy expense to stay in Philadelphia, not knowing 
on which day he might be simimoned : his business 
suffering, all family claims put in the background, 
appealing repeatedly for definite charges and for 
the privilege of rendering his acco tints. 



Congress Hostile 141 

Years later he wrote from London that he had 
duplicates of forty-two such urgent appeals he 
made without avail. He was of course unable to 
give all the details of his business transactions 
with all the vouchers. He had not been asked to 
do so in the letter recalling him. There was no 
time to send to Strassburg, Marseilles, Nantes, for 
the accounts of transactions, many of which he 
carried through covertly to elude the English. 
Vergennes insisted that he should go to America 
secretly, and to call in the accoimts would have 
constmied many weeks. He said he could account 
for every farthing expended. 

That Deane was not constantly brooding over 
his trials appears from a letter to the president 
of Congress dated November, 1778, in which he 
makes suggestions on two important subjects : the 
redemption of money — the paper issue of forty 
millions; and also upon the establishment of a 
marine. He urged that a fleet of forty sails be got 
to sea the following year, and that a bank be 
established in Europe by securing a loan of twenty- 
five million dollars, and establishing a sinking 
fimd to pay off principal and interest in sixteen 
years. He argues against the plan of Congress to 
repudiate the first issue and put out another, and 
says, **I fear the result of a total bankruptcy, 



142 Silas Deane 

which to me appears more than probable in the 
present plan/* 

On Nov. 30, he writes his brother Barnabas of 
his fears of a general bankruptcy, as the majority 
of the members of Congress oppose the attempt 
to make a foreign loan. He says he has made up 
his mind to publish an account of his case ; he had 
struggled long against it, but he had come to the 
conclusion that it was his duty, perhaps one of the 
last duties he could render his country, as it seemed 
best to him to escape from the ingratitude from 
which he was so keenly suffering: his wife had 
died; his son was in France; the air was ftdl of 
rumors which Lee, Izard, and the rest of the con- 
spirators were industriously spreading, that Deane 
had become enormously rich, and that his demand 
for the settlement of the accounts and the pay- 
ment of a large balance was ptire bluff. Congress 
was at its wit's end to get money for the army. 
Paper money was worth about ten cents on a 
dollar, and before Deane returned to France it 
shrank to five. 

It was a dismal time for America. There were 
two parties in Congress, the National and the 
States Rights: prominent in the former were 
Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hancock, Morris, 
Madison, Livingston, and the Virginia statesmen 



Congress Hostile 143 

generally ; leaders of the latter party were the Lees, 
John Adams, and Samuel Adams. The last 
named was friendly to the Lees from the first. It 
was through his influence that Arthur Lee was 
appointed to represent Massachusetts in London. 
He was devoted to the project of exciting alarm 
against Washington; he voted against every mea- 
sure to increase Washington's influence. There 
were days when no more than fifteen members 
attended. There was a powerful faction which 
aimed at the recall of Franklin and the election of 
Arthiu* Lee in his place, and Lee was striking at 
Franklin behind his back as hard as he dared. 

Determined if possible to become the central 
figure in Paris, which was the heart of political in- 
fluence in Europe, Lee bent every nerve to imseat 
the older and more eminent Commissioner; he 
probably would have succeeded had it not been for 
the direct and energetic influence of the French 
Ambassador, M. Gerard. It is said that at one 
time the majority to sustain Franklin was only one. 
Gerard claims the honor of having defeated the 
Lees. In one of his letters to Vergennes he says : 
"The stories of Arthiir Lee are but an absurd 
tissue of falsehoods and sarcasm, which can only 
compromise those who have the misfortime of 
being obliged to have anything to do with him." 



144 Silas Deane 

In another letter Gerard wrote : 

I explained myself gradually, and not until the very 
instant when it was indispensable to prevent this 
dangerous and bad man (Arthur Lee) from displacing 
Franklin, and being at the same time charged with 
negotiations with Spain. I cannot conceal from you 
that I rejoice every day more and more in having 
been able to assist in preventing this misfortune. 

The struggle was long, lasting through the 
spring and a part of the summer of 1779, until the 
country clamored for an end of strife. At length 
Franklin was confirmed, and Arthur Lee, William 
Lee, and Ralph Izard were recalled. 

The fate of Deane was unlike that of Franklin ; 
the conspiracy was too powerful, too subtle for 
the former: whichever way the doomed man turned 
he met hostility open or disguised. Congress was 
crystallizing into two camps — those for Deane, and 
those against him. This process was hastened by 
an address by Deane Dec. 5, 1778, in the Phila- 
delphia Packet, which we may label "War to the 
Knife. " In it he said that he had been compelled 
to take that course by the refusal of Congress to 
consider his cause. 

He said that he had been honored with one 
colleague, and saddled with another; that the 
Commissioners, believing that Lee could nowhere 



Congress Hostile 145 

be of less service than at Paris, had sent him to 
Spain in February, where his wanton display of his 
errand had given just offense. In May he had 
gone to Germany, where he did nothing but lose 
his papers. 

In February, 1777, William Lee, an alderman of 
London, and brother of Arthur, was appointed 
commercial agent in France, and he was urged to 
come at once to attend to matters of great moment. 
He waited four months, and then went to Nantes, 
where he declined to remedy certain affairs, 
lest, as he admitted, his property in Eng- 
land might be affected. Afterward, when he 
was appointed Commissioner to the Courts of 
Vienna and Berlin, he manifested his customary 
appetite for graft. 

These brothers, Arthur and William, he would 
treat with tenderness as they had two brothers in 
Congress, but candor compelled him to say that 
they gave universal disgust to the nation whose 
aid we solicited, through an undisguised hatred 
and contempt for the French nation, which greatly 
embarrassed the other Commissioners and preju- 
diced their affairs. 

He spoke of the opinion which many had of 
Lee, that he was in league with the British Min- 
istry through Lord Shelbume, his English patron. 



146 Silas Deane 

Lee was dragged into signing the treaties with 
France with the greatest reluctance, and the 
moment they were signed, though they were to be 
kept a secret for a time, Lee's private secretary 
hastened to England, and soon afterward Charles 
James Fox, a friend of Lord Shelburne, publicly 
declared their leading provisions in the House of 
Commons. 

He complains that while Congress had voted on 
Dec. 8, 1777, to recall him, and he was ready early 
in July with his report, Congress waited five weeks, 
then gave him two hearings, on Aug. 19 and 
2 1 , and he. had been unable to gain a third. 

We can imagine the excitement this drastic 
paper excited : John Adams piously desired that its 
author be given over to Satan to buffet. It would 
have seemed rather natural to Deane to have that 
prayer answered, after his long experience with 
Lee! 

Gerard's comment is significant here in view of 
the friendliness between the Lees and the austere 
Adams statesmen. Gerard says that Deane pub- 
lished a pamphlet which was not distasteful to 
the plurality of Congress, wearied and ashamed of 
the ascendancy of R. H. Lee and Samuel Adams. 

We also bear in mind the fact that Lee secured 
his appointment to London through Samuel Adams. 



Congress Hostile 147 

It may not be in good taste for us in this milder 
age to criticize Deane for publishing such a letter ; 
it was a time in which men used strong language 
and called things and people by their correct 
names, if they could think of words severe enough. 
Deane had been stimg and goaded beyond en- 
durance by the Lee party (I was tempted to say 
''gang") ; the pent-up anger of years at last burst 
forth. Deane knew he could not make things 
worse; he thought that the doings of Congress, 
sitting behind closed doors, its treatment of a man 
who had conducted its business successfully in 
Europe ought to be known by the public at large ; 
he intended to publish further chapters, but did 
not, for on Monday, Dec. 7, two days after the 
letter was issued, Congress voted to call in Deane 
and hear his story. But nothing came of it. Deane 
was permitted to give driblets of information, but 
no attempt was made to examine his case fairly. 
A committee was appointed to investigate, but it 
did not give him a hearing, or ask him a question. 
Later in December, Deane was notified to attend 
immediately; he did so, gave some information, 
and was ordered to withdraw; it was voted that 
he await further orders. 

Our chief source of information upon that 
stormy period is the newspapers, and the man who 



148 Silas Deane 

heartily enjoyed the tempest was Thomas Paine, 
who was appointed secretary of the Committee of 
Foreign Affairs, of which R. H. Lee was chairman. 
He received a large bonus, so the report goes, and 
proceeded to dip his pen in gall and falsehood after 
the gentdne Arthur Lee style. Innuendo and sar- 
casm, with a dash of bold lying, made him a vig- 
orous defender of the Lees, and a bitter enemy of 
Deane, until even his employers could not endure 
him and he was discharged. Uvrl r^^ ^Amxa*^) 

Here are samples of his brilliant genius: "There 
is something in the concealment of the papers that 
. looks like embezzlement." "From the pathetic 
, manner in which Deane speaks of his sufferings it 
appears that there is in this city a Book of Suffer- 
ings in which he is registered. " 

Robert Morris took up the defense of Deane: 
said he was a man of honor and integrity. Then 
Paine replied in the Philadelphia Packet, Jan. 12, 
1779, saying: "The interest of Deane sat there in 
^•^ ^ the person of his partner, Robert Morris, who, at 
the same time that he represented the state, rep- 
resented likewise the partnership in trade." 

On Jan. 14, 1779, there appeared in the Packet 
a card by Deane declaring that Paine's contention 
was false in every part. Paine had said that only 
one ship in three arrived with military supplies, 



Congress Hostile 149 

and that the Mercury and Seine fell into the hands 
of the enemy, whereas eight ships sailed from 
France with four million livres* worth of munitions 
of war, and only one was seized by the English, the 
Seine, after delivering a capital part of her cargo 
at Martinico. 

The profitless discussion went on for weeks ; back 
and forth the hot words passed; about the only 
good Deane received was an experience, which 
taught him never to repeat the experiment of 
getting justice by controversy in the newspapers. 
Deane has been sharply criticized for his exposure 
of the discord and strife among the Commissioners, 
and for his serious charges against men high in 
office, but we must remember that it was the crisis 
of Deane's life. Called suddenly home from a high 
office, to which he had been commissioned by five 
of the leading men of the country, he was met by 
delay and a vague atmosphere of suspicion. After 
five months of humiliating and expensive waiting, 
Deane was convinced that Hosmer's explanation 
was correct, and that his enemies were seeking to 
wear him out by delay. 

The only serious charge against him was that 
he had used his agency to advance his private 
interests. In an article dated March 26, 1779, 
Paine said: "It is a general belief that you ne- 



150 Silas Deane 

gotiated a proffered present amountirig to two 
hundred thousand pounds into a purobhase, and 
embezzled, or were privy to embezzling ^, the public 
despatches to promote the imposition. ' * 

It is hard to see how wild talk like thrs could 
make any impression on considerate men; bjit no 
doubt even they would say that where there was 
so much smoke there must be a little fire. 

There is an enlightening letter from James 
Lovell to Franklin, dated May 15, 1778, in which 
he speaks of the constraint brought to bear on 
Congress to take the position it did toward Deane : 

You have no adequate idea [he says] of the bold 
claims and even threats which were made against 
Congress, inducing the necessity of disavowing Mr. 
Deane's agreements, and the consequently more dis- 
agreeable necessity of recalling him. That gentle- 
man's embarrassments have always been considered 
as apologies for his compliances, and you may rely 
upon it that imagined if not real necessity alone has 
governed the decision of Congress with respect to him, 
and that he will find congenial regard for the manner 
in' which he has conducted our affairs abroad. 

It is a relief to read this considerate statement of 
a man so intelligent and able as the secretary of 
Congress. It helps explain the fact that men like 
Samuel Adams, despite Thomas Paine's bluster 



Congress Hostile 151 

and cry of fraud, played into the hands of the Lees, 
Izards, and Carmichaels. 

Arthur Lee, lago-like, had done his work only 
too well. His brother Richard Henry was a good 
second. Gerard's description of the latter is vivid : 
*'He has a secret ambition and dissimulation equal 
to that of the people of the East, and a rigidity 
of manners and the gravity that is natural to 
Presbyterians. He is laborious, intelligent, and 
supple." 

In a reply to this able chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations, dated Jan. 26, 1779, 
Deane refers to words in Lee's paper, ''libel, 
fabulous, innuendo, caltimnies, " and says they 
suggest the influence of Thomas Paine, who has 
told the public that he for several years was your 
intimate acquaintance. 

You say [Deane continues]: "Had I winked at all 
information of public abuse, I do not think I should 
have incurred Mr. Deane's censure, but whilst I am 
honored with public trust it shall be my constant 
endeavor to prevent the community from being in- 
jured, and certainly to insist that all those who have 
fingered large sums of money should be called upon 
for a fair and honest settlement." 

Have I been charged with abuse of the public trust? 
Has Congress or any one member brought forward 
any such charge? 



152 Silas Deane 

You say: "Mr. Deane talks much about his great 
services and good conduct, how happens it that of \ 

the four Commissioners besides himself, three are so 
clear and strong in reprobating that conduct?" 

Who are those three? Two are your brothers, and 
the third not Dr. Franklin. Dr. Franklin's conduct 
is as surely reprobated as mine. 

Then he quotes Franklin, who said he had been 
for fifteen months in the same house with Deane 
and had always found him a faithful, active, and 
able minister. Deane tells R. H. Lee that if 
he told the whole he would have said: "Of four 
Commissioners in public service, three, Mr. Arthur 
Lee, Mr. Wm. Lee, and Mr. Izard, reprobate, the 
fourth highly approves. " 

Franklin's opinion is seen in a letter he wrote 
about this time to Arthur Lee. There is less evi- 
dence of the calmness and mildness of the patient 
philosopher in it than in some of his other writings, 
but we may believe that he had not lost his insight 
or good judgment when he wrote Lee : 

Your angry charge of "making a party business of 
it" is groundless. You magnify your zeal to have 
the public accounts settled, and insinuate that Mr. 
Deane and I prevented it by taking possession of all 
the vouchers and by taking constantly the public 
papers to ourselves, which are the property of all the 
Commissioners. When this comes to be read in the 



Congress Hostile 153 

Committee, for which it seems to be calculated rather 
than for me, who know the circumstances, -what can 
they understand by it but that you are the only care- 
ful, honest man of the three; and that we have some 
knavish reason for keeping the accounts in the dark, 
and you from seeing the vouchers? 

But the truth is the papers came into Mr. Deane's 
hands and mine first, as he was engaged in pur- 
chasing goods for Congress before either you or I 
came into France; next, as somebody must keep the 
papers, and you were either on long journeys or had a 
commission to go and reside in Spain, whereas Mr. 
Deane and I lived almost constantly in the same house 
in Passy, we did most of the business. Where could 
the papers be so properly placed as with us who had 
daily occasion to use them? 

I never knew you desired to have the keeping of 
them. You were never refused a paper. You ask 
why I act so inconsistently with my duty to the public. 
This is a heavy charge. Sir, which I have not deserved. 
To the public I am accountable, and not to you. I 
have been a servant to many publics through a long 
life; have served them with fidelity and honored ap- 
probation. There is not a single instance of my ever 
being accused before of acting contrary to their inter- 
ests or my duty. I shall account to Congress when 
called upon for this my terrible offense of being silent 
to you. 

It is true I have omitted answering some of your 
letters, particularly your angry ones in which you, 
with very magisterial airs, schooled me, as if I had 
been one of your domestics. I saw your jealous, 
suspicious, malignant, and quarrelsome temper, which 
was daily manifesting itself against Mr. Deane, and 



154 Silas Deane 

almost every other person you had any concern with. 
I therefore passed your affronts in silence, I did not 
answer, but burnt your angry letters, and received 
you with the same civility as if you had not written 
them. Perhaps I may still pursue the same conduct. 

At another time FranMin wrote Lee : 

I do not know that either Mr. Deane or myself ever 
showed any unwillingness to settle the public accounts. 
You could at any time have obtained the accounts 
as readily as either of us, and you had abundant more 
leisure. If on examining them, you had wanted ex- 
planations on any article, you might have called for 
it and had it: you never did either. As soon as I 
obtained the account, I put it into your hands, and 
desired you to look into it, and I have heard no more 
of it till now. 

The bitterness of those miserable days, and the 
ease with which the mind of a good man could be 
poisoned, is seen in the following quotation from 
the immortal diary of that high-minded John 
Adams, who was a better man than any one else 
was in his judgment capable of being. He wrote 
in his diary Feb. 8, 1779, his opinion of Deane's 
address, that it was 

the most wicked and abominable production that 
ever sprang from a human heart. He appeared to me 
in the light of a wild boar, that ought to be hunted 
down for the benefit of mankind. I have given him 
up to Satan to be buffeted. There are certain in- 



Congress Hostile 155 

fallible proofs of vanity, presumption, ambition, 
avarice, and folly in Mr. Deane as to render him un- 
worthy of confidence, and therefore Dr. Franklin has 
been deceived. 

The only comment upon this childish opinion of 
Adams is to put by the side of it his opinion, when ^\-l,^^ { g^^i 
he took the office left vacant by Deane, that Deane i i^c^vx^ ^^ ^ 
had fulfilled his mission ably and well. ^ ^ ^=*"' 

On April 17, 1779, Deane wrote Congress that 
his family had suffered much by his absence, he 
wished to leave the city the next week. 

On May 22, he wrote the president of Congress : 

Conversing with an honored friend, I asked him how 
it was possible that when there was so much to do in 
France I had been ordered home. He answered that 
it was the design of those who wished to sacrifice me to 
family interests to wear me out,by delays, and, without 
any direct charges, to ruin me in the opinion of my 
countrymen by insincere hints and innuendoes. I 
was unable then to think my friend's suspicions 
correct, yet now they are confirmed. 

On Jime 10, a motion was made that Deane 
should not depart, and that Arthur Lee be recalled, 
but it did not pass. ^,^^ 

The comment of Henry Laurens,^ President of 
Congress, is significant: "If Deane goes in de- 
fiance of Congress, it will be a confession." 

About the only consolation Deane had in that 



156 Silas Deane 

period was the satisfaction of being several thou- 
sand miles distant from Arthur Lee, whose 
presence with him in Paris had brought on a 
premature Purgatory. But Lee's spell was on 
Congress, and still it delayed action. 

Vergennes wrote Oct. 29, 1778, "I fear Mr. Lee 
and those about him. ..." and this consideration 
induced the Cotut at Versailles to keep secret 
from Arthtu* Lee the intended sailing of Count 
d'Estaing, and on several occasions he created 
the highest disgust at Versailles. The Court of 
Madrid had the same opinion of him. Mr. S. 
Nicholson wrote William Carmichael: "I have 
heard Dr. Franklin say he thought Arthur Lee 
was crazy, and I am sure it was current enough 
at Nantes." 

There must have been method in a madness 
which could so thoroughly undermine the reputa- 
tion of such a man as Deane ; but Laurens, president 
of Congress, though apparently an effusive friend, 
was at heart a deadly enemy; the Lees, Izard, 
Carmichael, Col. Duer, Tom Paine, Samuel 
Adams, and some others worked together, and 
while, as Gerard said, the majority in Con- 
gress was in favor of Deane, his enemies were 
strong and skillful enough to lay every motion 
which looked toward action on the table, and at 



Congress Hostile i57 

the same time hinder every effort toward definite 
charges. 

It was a brilliant example of malice and petti- 
fog triumphing over a man whom circumstances 
had put into the power of a combination of deter- 
mined men, who, with greater or less sincerity, set 
aside all principles of justice, all rules of equity, all 
motives of gratitude, all feelings of compassion, 
and even of sympathy, and condemned a public 
officer, uncharged and unheard, for crimes ex- 
ploited by innuendo and insinuated by clandestine 
hate. On Aug. 6, 1779, Congress voted to dis- 
charge Deane from further attendance, and the 
several agents and Commissioners were ordered to 
send in, without delay, their accounts and vouchers 
for settlement. 

On Aug. 16, Deane sent Congress a memorial, 
recounting the main facts of his mission, and urging 
that some one be appointed to audit his accotmts 
and pay the balance, as his private fortune had 
suffered seriously because of his service for the 
public. 

On Aug. 26, he received an order from the con- 
tinental treasurer for ten thousand five hundred 
dollars, "in full consideration of time and expenses 
during attendance on Congress from June 4, 1778, 
to Aug. 6, 1779." Paper money was worth five 



158 Silas Deane 

cents on a dollar, and Deane refused this pittance 
as wholly inadequate and unfair. 

On Nov. 16, Deane wrote Congress expressing 
his zeal for his country, and his purpose soon to 
return to France to vindicate that which was 
dearer than life or fortune, — his honor and 
character. 

He left America June 14, 1780, assured that his 
accounts would be audited on presentation with 
vouchers; he reached France, July 27, and was 
received by Franklin to his lodgings. 

The most vivid imagination cannot exaggerate 
the keenness of Deane' s disappointment at the 
outcome of his stay in Philadelphia. 

He came after two years' absence, conscious 
that he had well fulfilled the charge of the Com- 
mittee; he was on board D'Estaing's flagship, in 
company with his friend Gerard, the Minister, 
whose coming had been made possible by the 
treaty which Deane had the honor to sign. 

He came to a city of which he wrote a year 
later : 

It may at this instant be truly said there are few 
unhappier cities on the globe than Philadelphia: the 
reverse of its name is its present character. It is a 
melancholy reflection to think that, whilst our 
common enemy is wasting our seacoasts and laying 



Congress Hostile 159 

our fairest and most peaceable towns in ashes, we are 
quarreling among ourselves, and can scarcely be con- 
strained from plunging our swords into each other's 
bosoms. 

He came to meet the coolness, the averted faces, 
the hostility of the Congress, where he had been a 
peer of the best statesmen of America, before the 
reign of selfish cabals and the junto rule. 

He was compelled to stand at the closed doors of 
that Congress and plead for a hearing; he was 
compelled to endure the ignominy of groundless 
charges, made through venomous rimior and 
underhanded spite. 

During the fourteen months of waiting on men 
whose indifference and neglect were cruel and 
heart-breaking, he was summoned but twice to 
meet the Congress that had recalled him upon a 
pretense; he was treated like a criminal, without 
a criminal's opportunity to hear the charges and 
answer the complaint. 

No wonder deep-seated discouragement was 
planted in his mind. 



CHAPTER X 



DEANE's second mission to FRANCE A FAILURE 



T^HE warning of Deane's friend Hosmer, that 
the conspirators would *'wear him out by 
delay," was coming true. Compare his prospects 
and courage when he went out in 1776, or when he 
returned in 1778, with his feelings when he went to 
France in 1780, after two years of the most anxious 
and harassing struggle, disappointment, hostility, 
and ingratitude. 

It is true that he was relieved of the daily 
irritations of Arthur Lee's suspicious and schem- 
ing presence, but there were allies of Lee who 
thwarted Deane at every turn. He missed the 
wise and genial friendliness of Franklin, but he 
enjoyed the confidence of Robert Morris, who 
wrote Jay, Aug. 16, 1778: "Many persons whom 
you know are very liberal of illiberality. Your 
friend Deane, who hath rendered the most essential 
services, stands as one accused. The storm in- 

160 



Second Mission to France i6i 

creases, and I think some one of the tall trees 
must be torn up by the roots." 

The next month Morris wrote: "I think our 
friend Deane has much public merit, has been 
ill-used, but will rise superior to his enemies." 

Morris knew what it was to pass through a 
storm of calimmy and detraction, as did Washing- 
ton and Franklin, but Deane's situation was 
peculiarly unfortunate, because of the combination 
of personal ambition and prejudice, financial de- 
pression, and the complicated system whereby the 
supplies were secured. Deane was waiting on 
Congress at its ebb-tide, — a time partially ex- 
plained by Prof. W. G. Simmer in his Finances of 
the Revolution, when he says, ^'The failure of 
requisitions in the American Revolution must be 
referred to the all-pervading lack of organization 
and the low vitality of the Union." 

He came hither in d'Estaing's flagship with 
Gerard, the French minister ; he went back after a 
vain attempt to sweep away a poisoned atmos- 
phere of innuendo and malice. 

The one thing, which proved to be in the same 
class with the rest of his treatment at the hands of 
Congress, was the assurance of Congress that 
an officer would be appointed to examine and pass 
upon his accounts. 



i62 Silas Deane 

He carried a letter which Morris wrote him 
March 31, 1780, in which he said: 

Reflecting on the unrestricted abuse you have 
suffered, and not knowing whether you have any 
evidence with you to show that your particular friends 
were not infected with the pestilence of the times, I 
have suddenly and hesitatingly scribbled a letter to 
Dr. Franklin, in which I have expressed pretty con- 
cisely the sentiments due to him, you and myself. I 
consider that we have been fellow-laborers in the 
vineyard, and although our works speak for them- 
selves before that impartial Master, who knows all 
actions, and the secret springs that give rise to them, 
yet the evidence of one honest man in favor of an- 
other is but too often necessary to protect virtue and 
innocence against the shaft of malice and envy in 
this short-sighted world. 

Morrises letter to Franklin has the same date as 
the above, and in it we read : 

I do not know that what I am going to write is 
necessary, or that Mr. Deane will thank me, but he 
has always manifested a warm attachment to your 
person and character before Congress; it might be 
some satisfaction to you and him to have a testimony 
of this kind from a friend to you both, who, having 
nothing to seek or ask for yourself, can mean nothing 
but to promote that harmony and friendship which 
he wishes to continue between two worthy men. I 
consider Mr. Deane as a martyr in the cause of 
America. After rendering the most signal and im- 
portant services, he has been reviled and traduced in 



Second Mission to France 163 

the most shameful manner. But I have not a doubt 
the day will come when his merit shall be universalh^ 
acknowledged, and the authors of those calumnies 
held in the detestation they deserve. 

My own fate has been in some degree similar. 
After four years of indefatigable service, I have been 
reviled and traduced for a long time by whispers 
and insinuations, which at length were fortunately 
wrought up to public charges, which gave me an 
opportunity to show how groundless, how malicious 
these things were ; how innocent and honest my trans- 
actions. My enemies, ashamed of their persecutions, 
have quitted the pursuit, and I am in peaceable 
possession of the most honorable station my ambi- 
tion aspires to. that of a private citizen of a free 
state. Yourself, my good Sir, have had a share in 
these calamities, but the malice, which gave them 
vent, was so e\ddent, as to destroy its own poison: 
they could not cast even a cloud over your justly and 
much-revered character. These things have taught 
me a lesson of philosophy, which may be of ser\4ce.^ 
I find most useful members of society have most 
enemies, because there is a number of envious beings 
in human shape; and if m}' opinion of mankind in 
general is grown worse from my experience of them, 
that very circumstance raises my veneration for those 
characters that justly merit the applause of virtuous 
men. In this light I view Dr. Franklin and Mr. 
Deane, and under this view of them I assert, with 
an honest confidence, that I have a just and equit- 
able title to a return of that friendship which I 
think is honorable to profess for them, \\4th that 
degree of truth and affection which impresses me 
with it. 



i64 Silas Deane 

Deane's temper as he set out on his second mis- 
sion to Europe is suggested in a letter to his brother 
Barnabas, written two months before he sailed: 

I hope in ten days to set my face for Europe. My 
heart has long been sick, not of America, but with 
distress for her. . . . You will think that I write in 
a desponding turn of mind. I do not, but I am not 
gay. A consciousness of the rectitude of my intentions 
supports me, and I trust will to the last, whatever 
may happen. 

Unable to leave the country at the time ap- 
/ pointed, he wrote April 23, to a friend: "I leave 
the country with a heavy and foreboding heart : I 
have had the fortune of Cassandra hitherto; my 
dictions have been universally disbelieved and 
-' disregarded, and yet tinfortunately have been 
fulfilled." 

In a letter to Joseph Webb Jime 20, 1780, he 
speaks of his anxiety concerning the Webb family, 
and says : 

The comfort I receive from a clear conscience affords 
me some cheerful moments in the darkest scenes . . . 
I hope in a year or two we can meet in peace and at 
ease, but if not, He who directs knows best. I go 
perfectly resigned to my fate, whatever it may be in 
my voyage, and therefore am not so unhappy as I 
should otherwise be. 

To keep our narrative clearly in mind, we outline 



Second Mission to France 165 

again the case as Deane understood it in his de- 
mands upon Congress. In his last letter to Con- 
gress before sailing, he wrote that he agreed with 
the Secret Committee that his expenses should be 
borne, and a commission of five per cent, allowed. 
Unable, because of lack of funds, to buy many of 
the goods ordered, he devoted himself to the 
purchase of arms, clothing, and cannon, and he 
engaged in no private, commercial business. The 
commission on the goods bought, up to the time 
he was appointed to act jointly with Franklin and 
Lee, amounted to seventy-eight thousand seven 
hundred dollars. He also purchased and fitted out 
fifteen ships, most of them being large ships, and 
only one miscarried. He was often embarrassed 
and hard-pressed for money, and, but for repeated 
and in-gent application to certain great personages, 
he would have been landed in ruin. The amount 
of goods, stores, and ships purchased by him 
amounted to over two million dollars, nearly all 
of which landed safely in America, the only ship 
that was lost went to Martinique, contrary to his 
orders. 

Soon after he reached Paris he received a letter 
from Robert Morris which must have cheered him. 
It is dated Philadelphia, July 3, 1780. Morris 
says: 



^/ 



i66 Silas Deane 

You will steadily pursue the object that induced you 
to return to Europe, which wUl enable you to set your 
transactions for America in that just and fair light 
in which they ought to stand, and give you that high 
share of merit with your country that I do most 
firmly believe to be justly your due. I am deter- 
mined to keep myself clear of all that public employ- 
ment which exposes an honest m.an to the env}' and 
jealousy of mankind, at the same time that it lays 
him open to the malicious attacks of every dirty 
scoundrel that deals in the murder of reputation. 

There are two grains of comfort in Deane's 
letter of Aug. 4 to his brother Simeon. He 
says that he finds his son Jesse just what he could 
wish him to be ; the other is that Arthur Lee had 
sailed to America three weeks before. "He has 
gone," Deane writes, "charged with all the maHce 
and revenge which hell is capable of inspiring him 
with, and for me. I am determined to fight my 
adversaries, in Congress and out, to the last, and 
in a manner that will not cause my friends to 
blush." 

On reaching Paris, Deane did not find that his 
reputation had suitered from the abuse he had 
received in America, but he did find that the devo- 
tion of France was cooling, and that the repudi- 
ation resolutions of Congress of March 18 had 
rained our credit in Europe. 



Second Mission to France 167 

On Sept. 18 he wrote Jay that it was almost 

as much a disgrace to be known to be an Ameri- 
can, as it was two years before to be an honor; 
that "Fraudtilent, "Bankrupt," were the adjec- 
tives used to stigmatize the insurgents. He says : 

I krovr the vreakness of Congress, and the malignity 
of Lee and his associates, but the situation of America 
wrings my soul: ruined by weak, distracted counsels, 
and betrayed by those in whom she has confided. 
May \-ou, my worthy friend, be so happy as never to 
experience how painful and how cutting it is to be 
treated with public ingratitude, edged and driven on 
by the treachery of those in whom 3-0U have con- 
fided; you merit a better fate, but that will not secure 
3-0U, without the prudence, of which \-ou happily have 
so great a portion, and of which I have so Httle. 
France rings with complaints of heavy losses of mer- 
chants by the depreciation of America. 

Many had put large sums in the Loan Office 
when American paper money was worth twenty- 
five cents on a dollar, but the resolution of March 
18 and the circular letter of September fixed the 
pai)er money at two and a hah* cents, and in effect 
prevented an}' appreciation from that: and the 
merchants in France drew the inference that, if 
Congress could annihilate thirty-nine fortieths of 
their notes, nothing prevents their extinguishing 
the residue. 



i68 Silas Deane 

The fact that Deane's own property, which 
amounted to more than fifteen thousand dollars, 
when he rettimed to Europe, was rapidly diminish- 
ing, did not increase his cheerfulness. 

A letter from John Jay of Oct. 26, 1 780, contains 
a plain recital of the charge against Deane in 
America. "You were blamed," Jay wrote, "not 
for omitting finally to settle your accounts in 
France, but for not being in a capacity to show, 
when in America, how far your measures were 
prudent. I think some of them were, and some 
were not." Jay criticizes him for feeling resent- 
ful toward the American people, but gently adds: 
"There are comparatively not many who, imder 
similar circimistances, either think right, or act so. 
I believe you honest, and I think you injured." 
He lu-ges Deane to sift and discover the exact 
evidence concerning the duplicity of his enemies. 

In reply, Deane said he had given the accounts, 
so far as he could, without actual and minute 
settlement ; that within six weeks of his arrival he 
had laid before Congress an authentic account of 
all moneys received or paid out, and a general 
account of what they had been paid for. 

He thanks Jay for questioning the prudence of 
some of his measures, adding : 



Second Mission to France 169 

I confess, on reflection, I do not approve of all the 
measures I took, but they were such as the time 
dictated, and such as at the time I thought most 
prudent. Though, viewed at this distance, they may 
be deemed less prudent than they really were, I find 
most of them produced real benefits to America, and 
that the worst consequences of any of them have 
fallen solely on myself. 

Who can deny the justice of the complaint 
that follows? ** Allowing some or all of my mea- 
sures to have been imprudent, still my complaint 
lies against Congress, for not informing me of what 
I had done wrong, that I might have had an oppor- 
tunity of vindicating myself in the best manner 
in my power." 

Then he gives another evidence of the conspiracy 
which had drawn its malignant nets around him, 
saying : 

With respect to the duplicity of some of my pre- 
tended friends in Congress, I had some suspicion be- 
fore I left America, and since, I have full proof of it. 
Letters sent from hence with express orders to be com- 
mitted to me, and to be made use of in Congress for 
my justification, were suppressed. I know they were 
received, and I have copies of them, which is more. 
The persons capable of this, who appeared on all occa- 
sions publicly to support me against the Lee faction, 
since the displacing of those men, have declared that 
they had no view of serving me or my cause, but to 
make use of both to destroy the Lee interests. 



I70 Silas Deane 

Then follows a gloomy prophecy; the suffering 
had been so long and so continuous that his brave 
heart was bending. 

I have nearly finished [he wrote] the settlement of 
my accounts and those of the Commission, the result 
of which is a large balance in my favor. Will this 
establish my reputation, and procure justice for in- 
juries I have received in character and fortune? I 
do not flatter myself with any such hope. 

The reason for this desponding mood is clear- 
sighted and convincing : 

The men to whom I am to apply for this justice are 
those who have injured me, and, in doing it, must 
condemn themselves — a self-denial or heroism not to 
be expected from them; but, supposing them capable 
of this, will it recall the envenomed shafts of calumny 
shot at me from behind their shield? I grant that 
the bulk of the people mean well, but from a suspicion 
that the greater part of men in public employ are dis- 
honest, a suspicion at this time more prevalent with 
the people of America than with any other, you will 
find fifty, nay one hundred, who will receive with open 
ears a calumny, and will propagate the same with as 
much industry as if their character and interest de- 
pended on its being spread and believed — to a single 
one who will take any pains to undeceive himself and 
others. 

He adds that many in Congress knew that he 
entered public service with fair character and easy 



Second Mission to France 171 

fortune, and all America knew that, however im- 
prudent some of his meastires appear, he rendered 
essential service to his country. The French 
officers he commissioned either did good service, 
or were sent home; yet Congress refuses to do 
anything to rescue his reputation, investigate the 
charges, or rescue the fortune spent in its service, 

A few days later he writes John Paul Jones a 
letter of sympathy and appreciation of his ardor 
and patriotism. Jones had suffered from Arthur 
Lee's selfishness and discourtesy. 

There is a letter of Beaumarchais to Vergennes 
of the date of Dec. 2, 1780, which shows how the 
clouds of trouble are gathering about Deane. 
The men to whom he had intrusted his money 
failed him, some of them dishonestly, and the de- 
preciation in America weakened him. Beaumar- 
chais says: 

Poor Mr. Deane, brought to Europe to conclude all 
business he had undertaken for Congress, and expect- 
ing to find funds to enable him to live here until his 
return, or the settlement of his accounts would re- 
imburse him for all his advances, now finds himself 
without the means of subsistence; he has applied to 
Dr. Franklin, but he has no authority for furnishing 
money. I am the only person to whom he has entirely 
confided, and he shows a bitterness that borders on 
something worse. I am so embarrassed, I can offer 
him only temporary assistance. 



172 Silas Deane 

What follows, Beatimarchais would probably 
have put stronger ten years later, after his own 
trying experience of the ingratitude of a re- 
public. "After his departure I reflected that it 
was perhaps a grave political error to drive to 
desperation those who have rendered important 
service to the state, as the contemptible new re- 
publican country does to all deserving men who 
have forwarded her interests. " 

On Feb. 23, 1781, Deane wrote his brother 
Simeon a gloomy letter. He thinks that no more 
troops or money can be secured from France, and 
with neither money, nor credit, nor friends, in- 
dependence is out of the question. He complains 
that, while he has nearly closed his accounts, the 
auditor, Mr. Johnson, whom Congress had ap- 
pointed, had declined to act. Deane does not 
know what to do ; some days he thinks he will 
return to America with his accounts, but the un- 
certainty deters him. He fears the coming sea- 
son will increase the distraction and distress. The 
war between England and Holland is unfavorable 
to us, for France and Spain depend largely on 
Holland for supplies. He learns that England 
is in high spirits, and has nearly one hundred 
men-of-war on the stocks, and forty ships of the 
line building. 



Second Mission to France 173 

Out of the depression of an empty pocket, and 
the cloud of calumny that was about him, he adds : 
" Unless our finances can be well established, army 
increased and supported, and national and internal 
forces of the Continent brought to act with con- 
sistency and energy, the game will soon be up.'* 

He writes his brother Barnabas that balances 
have been refused him imtil the original vouchers 
have been examined in Philadelphia. ''Judge my 
feelings and suffering!" he exclaims. 

A wholesome letter from John Jay of the date 
of Mar. 28, 1 78 1, reached Deane in the midnight 
of his depression. Would that its wise counsels 
had been followed ! As is apt* to be the case imder 
such conditions, Deane was talking too much. 
Jay writes : ^ 

Mr. Carmichael has been informed (I believe by 
letter from some person in France) that you had, in 
some late conversation on American affairs, spoken 
much to their disadvantage, and in a manner very dis- 
couraging. You must be sensible that such reports 
will be no less prejudicial to you in America than in 
Europe. Your reasons for not publishing your de- 
fense at present, do you honor. Let me advise you, 
however, to omit no opportunity of authenticating 
the facts essential to it, and to hold yourself constantly 
in readiness to seize the first proper opportunity of 
convincing the world, that you merit the thanks, not 
the reproaches, of your country. I believe you inno- 



:^ 



174 Silas Deane 

cent of the malversations imputed to you, and I feel 
for you the sympathy which such an opinion must 
create in every honest mind. In this enHghtened 
age, when the noise of passion and party shall have 
subsided, the voice of truth will be heard and attended 
to. It is too true that mere private altercations have 
little effect upon the public mind, few thinking it 
worth their while to examine the merits of a dispute 
important only to the parties. This is not your 
case: your commission, and the manner in which it 
was executed, will ever be interesting to America, 
and therefore America will ever be ready to hear 
your cause, and to determine it justly according to 
evidence. 

The opinion of the great jtirist has been justified, 
but the verification came too late for the relief of 
Deane. Fifty years after his death the accounts 
were thoroughly sifted, and his cause established. 

In a letter to Jay of April 8, 1781, speaking of 
Jay's criticism upon his disparaging remarks about 
America, which tended to discourage and preju- 
dice, Deane says he only spoke the truth, and he 
thought it far wiser to do that than follow the 
method of many like Searles, a member of Con- 
gress, who, while in Europe, gave such a rose-col- 
ored view of our affairs, that the French were led 
to imagine that we had little need of further help. 

Perhaps Deane went to the opposite extreme: 
he certainly had an experience of his own, which 



Second Mission to France 175 

made it possible for him to draw a dark picture. 
He admits that he told Vergennes five months 
before, that nothing short of money to support 
army and navy could save America; that our 
finances were totally deranged, commerce nearly 
ruined, naval force next to nothing, army suffering 
for lack of pay and clothing, and instant relief 
absolutely necessary. A letter from Washing- 
ton about the same time to Vergennes justified 
Deane's contention, and fixed the relief of America 
solely on a supply of money for the army, and also 
a superior naval force, without which the cause 
of the colonists must soon fall. 

A glimpse of the widespread conspiracy to ruin 
Deane is seen in a letter from Jonathan Williams, 
an honest American. The letter is dated at 
Nantes, April 18, 1781, in which he speaks of 
Thomas Paine, then in Europe, as an enemy of 
Deane and friend of the Lees and Izard, and says 
he hopes that after a longer stay there he will 
become acquainted with the Lee rascalities, and, 
like all other good men, despise the wretch. ' 

On May 15, 1781, Deane wTote Congress that 
Johnson, who had been appointed to examine his 
accotmts, declined to serve. Deane again reviews 
the case and entreats Congress to do him the- 
justice he seeks. 



176 Silas Deane 

My enemies [he laments] represented me as a 

defaulter, grown rich out of the public moneys in my 

^ hands, and prejudiced the minds of Congress so strongly 

, against me, that my efforts in America to obtain even 

- a hearing were vain and ineffectual. My present 

condition, as well as state of my accounts, gives the 

lie to every assertion or insinuation of that kind; 

yet I am still left to suffer under the calumny in 

America and to be obliged to strangers for money 

for my support. 

^ In those dark days of poverty and worry in 
'' Paris, as he walked through the gay streets, or 
brooded in his lodgings, a letter came from Robert 
Morris, dated June 7, 1781, which must have com- 
forted him. Morris rejoices to hear of Deane 's 
safe arrival in France, because it will 

enable you to justify by incontestable facts and 
proofs that character which has been so exceedingly 
traduced, and which I long to see placed in that respec- 
table and meritorious point of view, which I believe 
it deserves; and the sooner you show your conduct 
in regard to money matters to have been strictly con- 
sistent with that honor and integrity, that I believe 
to have attended you through life, the better; as 
the infamous behavior of Arnold has put a weapon 
into the hands of your enemies, which they make use 
of to this day by giving you now and then a slashing 
stroke, in coupling his name and yours together in 
their publications, and always effecting to speak of 
you as a condemned man. 



Second Mission to France i77 ^ 

Morris refers to his recent appointment to the 
office of ''Superintendent of Finance," and closes 
with : " I long to see the day when you shall honor- 
ably remove those aspersions which have been 
cast, and those suspicions that have been raised, 
by your rancorous enemies. " 

In June, Deane wrote his brother Simeon of 
his disappointment in his attempt to settle with 
M. Sabatier. 

A month later he wrote Jay a gloomy letter 
in which he spoke of his thankfulness that he had 
not been prejudiced against his old friend by 
Carmichael. He adds: "Spain is not friendly to 
us; Holland has refused to receive Adams's 
credentials, nor can we raise money there. I set 
out to-morrow for a tour of the Netherlands and 
Holland/' 

Learning early in September that Arthur Lee's 
accounts, though neither audited in Europe nor 
offered for audit, had been passed by the board 
of accounts in Philadelphia, Deane was encour- 
aged to write Morris, enclosing his accoimts, 
though without the vouchers, as he had no dupli- 
cates; he explained in detail the whole situation: 
that his commission was only upon the goods / 
bought prior to his election as Commissioner with' 
Franklin and Lee, and was according to a contract 



178 Silas Deane 

with the Secret Committee. He said that he 
might have taken his pay out of the funds in his 
hands, as others had done, but he had preferred 
to leave the settlement to Congress. 

''Some," he says, "acted differently, and find 
themselves at easy circumstances, uncensured by 
Congress or public voice. Had I done the same, 
I might possibly have escaped the obloquy thrown 
on me, at least I should have escaped the distress 
the last two years involved. " 

After a year of fruitless endeavor in Paris to 
obtain a settlement, there came to Deane a letter 
from Beaimiarchais, which exposes the emptiness 
of some of Lee's lies. Reviewing Deane's mission 
to buy supplies without resources or credit, other 
than the authority of his credentials, he writes: 

I recall the ardor, the care, the persistency, and 
the exertions with which you commenced, continued, 
and finally concluded the delicate task of forwarding 
the consignments prepared by me for shipment to 
America. If your enemies have subsequently suc- 
ceeded in belittling the value of your political or 
commercial services in the opinion of those whom you 
represented, it is a misfortune for your country and 
for you ; and as witness of your exertions to serve your 
country, I cannot but deplore it. 

It was these very services that inspired me with the 
greatest regard, esteem, and friendship for you, es- 
pecially, since our ministry and all intelligent men in 



Second Mission to France 179 

our nation have, in common with myself, invariably 
recalled your sagacity, ability, and irreproachable 
conduct. I recall that you inadvertently mentioned 
that Congress promised you a commission of five per 
cent., I suspect that you are anxious for the fulfillment 
of the promise ; I cannot hear without distress that the 
first representative, and one whose ability and ex- 
ertions have rendered me efficient aid, should remain 
without sufficient remuneration. I have therefore 
decided to offer you two per cent, commission on all 
returns I may receive from Congress, whether money 
or goods of the ten per cent, allowed me, in case Con- 
gress absolutely refuses you any commission. This 
will be a poor return for your trouble. 

This was a kind and generous letter, and the 
offer does credit to Beaumarchais' noble heart, 
but how little he realized how keen was to be his 
own suffering at the hands of the Congress, which 
permitted Deane to endure such misery ; and that 
fifty years would pass before his own daughter 
would receive even a quarter of the just dues of 
her father, dying in poverty a generation before. 

On Sept. 13, Deane wrote his brother Barnabas 
that he was ill with fever. 

My patience is exhausted [he says] and my affairs 
ruined by the unexampled conduct of Congress, 
who have detained me here, — it is now more than a 
year, — waiting for the appointment of an auditor to 
settle my accounts, which in reality I believe they 
never wish or desire to have settled. 



i8o Silas Deane 

On Sept. 19, 1 78 1, Deane wrote James Wilson 
of the financial discouragements and losses he had 
sustained: everything on which he had built his 
hopes had failed — the mast contracts, Loan 
Office certificates, and the appointment of an 
auditor. 

At the close, he said he believed De Grasse and 
Rodney had both gone to the Continent. He 
was mistaken there. How different would have 
been his expectation for America, could he have 
seen that at that time De Grasse was on his way 
from the West Indies to Yorktown with a powerful 
fleet and large reinforcements of soldiers, and 
that within a month Cornwallis would surrender. 

On Sept. 26, he wrote his brother Barnabas of 
the gloomy prospects for America and of his 
unhappiness. 

On the same date he wrote John Jay of the 
newspapers coupling him with Duane and Arnold, 
and says he thinks that the licentiousness in 
stigmatizing men in public trust with the vilest 
and most abusive epithets and characters, a fatal 
symptom of the universal anarchy, which is more 
to be dreaded than monarchy at the door. 

On Oct. 20, he wrote from Ghent to Benj. 
Tallmadge, lamenting the prospect of dependence 
on France, which had twenty thousand veterans in 



Second Mission to France i8i 

America, and says he may remain two or three ^ 
months in Ghent ; he is sick of Paris though treated 
there with generosity and kindness. 

This brings us to the critical and dangerous 
attitude which Deane took in the fateful summer of 
1 78 1, when burdened by illness, worry, and pov- 
erty ; heart-sick with the long delay of Congress ; his 
courage weakened by his struggle with the veno- 
mous and underhanded conspiracy, he wrote 
letters which followed him to his lonely grave in 
the old churchyard in the town of Deal on the -^ 
south coast of England. 



CHAPTER XI 
deane's republicanism weakens 

nPHE gloom gathering in the mind of Deane 
through multiplying misfortunes, and brood- 
ing over the condition of his country, found ex- 
pression in the early summer of 1 78 1 , in nine letters 
which he wrote to friends in America, in which he 
gave expression to suggestions, damaging to him- 
self, and, had they been adopted, most injurious 
to his country. 

They are the so-called *' Paris Papers," other- 
wise known as the "Intercepted Letters." They 
were written to intimate friends, with no expec- 
tation that they would sway the fortunes of 
America, — a supposition requiring an egotism in 
Deane, of which we have no evidence elsewhere. 

The question why he wrote the letters must be 
laid aside with the question why many of us, 
when tired, nervous, and discouraged, do not keep 
quiet. 

The vessel, which sailed from L'Orient in June, 
1 78 1, carrying those missives of a mind hurt by 

182 



Discouraged 183 

ingratitude and disappointment, beginning to feel 
the iron of three long years of conspiracy and 
enmity entering the very heart of courage and 
enterprise, was captured by the British. 

They were published by the Rivingtons, a 
Tory firm of New York, in The Royal Gazette, and 
afterwards in book form. 

The first is dated June 14, 1781, Paris, and was 
addressed to Col. Wm. Duer, whom Deane then 
believed to be his friend. 

He asks why continue the war. Congress is 
weakened by cabals and mismanagement. "Let 
them acknowledge their inability," he writes, 
"weigh fairly the probable chances of success to 
establish Independent Sovereignty, and if they 
find the probability against it, honestly confess it 
and put an end to the calamities of the country. "- 
He speaks of his dismal fate to play the Cassandra, 
and prophesy disaster, and adds, "The cold hand 
of despair is upon me. " 

On June i , he wrote Robert Morris of the folly 
of continuing a process of exhausting and ruining 
one another. 

Who will be the gainers? he asks. Will sovereignty, 
in the hands of a democracy, be a government 
under which our persons and property will be better 
secured than before the contest began? Will the 



i84 Silas Deane 

country flourish more under independency, than 
while connected with Great Britain? 

In reading these words in the light of succeeding 
history, we need to make a distinct effort to place 
ourselves at the point of view of a man who for 
three years had tried in vain to persuade Congress 
to take the first steps toward fair dealing; a 
^man, who had been a member of that legislative 
body, had been commissioned by a committee of 
its ablest men, and had successfully performed the 
task given him in France, in the judgment of Ver- 
gennes, Franklin, Jay, and Morris. 

Deane had many needless fears about the 
commerce of the country, believing that the enmity 
of Great Britain would be a serious menace to it. 
He is convinced that England could hurt us by 
duties, restrictions, and prohibitions far more than 
France could help us. 

Speaking of the complaint that England in- 
cluded America in the Navigation Act, he says that 
we shared in the protection of the British navy, 
which grew strong enough to defend us as the result 
of that policy. We complained that we were re- 
strained from carrying certain articles to other mark- 
ets, but British subjects were generally restrained 
from importing the same from other countries, and 
England gave us the monopoly of her markets. 



Discouraged 185 

We were prohibited from taking from foreigners 
articles we wanted, though not the growth or 
fabric of England, but these were very inconsider- 
able. Goods made in England are more solid 
and substantial than others. The complaint 
that England does not allow foreigners to bring 
their produce and merchandise to us is absurd. 

That is the way England has built up her com- 
merce, and we may be required to adopt similar 
methods. In punctuality, generosity, and quality 
England surpasses all other nations. 

How can we pay for the goods we need? Eng- 
land gave us the preference in iron, naval stores, 
potash, flaxseed, and timber, and encouraged their 
introduction by bounties. With independence 
all this will change. Deane says he once supposed 
that England could not support her manufactures 
and commerce without American goods, but he 
has changed his opinion, for he finds that she can 
get tobacco and rice as cheaply from other coun- 
tries, and that Cuban and Brazilian tobacco is 
superior to American. 

Deane borrows a good deal of trouble over our 
commerce. He says that when we are independent, 
we can go where we please, but not find purchasers 
where we please, and nations will lay what im- 
positions they please on our sales. The northern 



i86 Silas Deane 

powers of Europe have similar articles to sell with 
ours ; Spain and Portugal only call for our flour and 
fish. If England loses the thirteen colonies, she 
will make the most of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, 
Canada, and the Floridas. 

We supposed that all the EngHsh manufacturing 
towns would clamor in our favor through want 
of employment: Ireland for flaxseed, and British 
West Indies for our goods. Six months corrects 
that: Ireland gets cheaper flaxseed, the West 
Indies suffer but little. 

This would be amusing reading if it were not the 
agonizing cry of a stricken man. How different 
from the spread-eagle declarations of later years 
are these sentences? "The world is not so de- 
pendent on us, — we are more dependent on our 
neighbors than they on us. " 

He goes on to say that we shall be excluded 
from the ancient markets of Europe, or rivalled 
in them. It was the interest of Great Britain to 
promote our commerce in fish, lumber, and ship- 
building. Separate and free, her policy will re- 
verse: she will shut her West India ports; sugar, 
coffee, and spices will be high; England will drive 
us out of our fisheries; Sweden and Russia can 
undersell us in iron, timber, and ships. 

Without a marine, we shall be a target for insult 



Discouraged 187 

on every side. Our debt is immense. Commerce 
will be heavily taxed. Congress is unfavorable 
to commerce: their resolutions in almost every 
instance demonstrate their ignorance of the prin- 
ciples and effects of commerce. We have magni- 
fied our importance, buoyed by wild and ground- 
less hopes. 

France grows indifferent toward us; we are the 
cheapest instrument to employ one half of the 
forces of Great Britain. At this critical time 
we can make better terms than later. 

On June 13, Deane wrote Jeremiah Wadsworth, 
insisting that Congress has an exaggerated view 
of its own importance, and it imagines that every 
European nation, except Great Britain, is in- 
terested to have us independent, though told to the 
contrary by every nation, except France. 

Living in the atmosphere of Europe, Deane was 
affected by its spirit, and it seemed to him that our 
independence was spoken of differently from the 
style three years before. Experience shows that 
we are warmly attached to English manners, cus- 
toms, and manufactures. Every American who 
visits France is impatient to go to England, despite 
the severe laws. 

Nothing short of peace can save our country 
from ruin. The terms offered by Great Britain 



i88 Silas Deane 

furnish a good basis for a treaty, and although 
unpopular now, will not be so later. 

In closing, Deane assured his solid old friend 
that, while their sentiments might differ, he must 
appreciate his motives. 

On May 14, Deane wrote General S. H. Parsons, 
and laid stress on the increasing navy of England, 
with thirty new ships of the line and near forty 
frigates on the stocks, plenty of money coming in 
from the new loan, and the repeal of the obnoxious 
acts that brought on the war. 

June I, he wrote Charles Thomson, secretary 
of Congress, emphasizing the fact that the usual 
causes for revolution, such as cruelty, dungeons, 
and scaffolds, had been lacking among the causes 
leading up to the war. 

On May 16, he wrote his brother Simeon that he 
had not talked his views in public or private but 
he could not disguise his fears that the change in 
the temper of the Americans since 1775, the falling 
off of able men from Congress, the heavy expenses, 
and the refusal of European nations to receive our 
ambassadors, were doleful prophecies of the future. 

Of the temper of Congress, Deane could speak 
out of his own experience; its caliber had not im- 
proved: Franklin and John Adams were abroad, 
Washington was in the army, Dickinson did not 



Discouraged 189 

return until late in 1779; Mason, Wythe, Jefferson, 
Nicholas, and Pendleton were no longer members. 

Congress had reduced the value of currency to 
zero; its prominent members caballed against 
Washington in the fearful winter of 1777-8; it did 
nothing for the soldiers in Valley Forge, at a time 
when Washington said that America was on the 
brink of destruction. 

Deane doubts whether a democracy will secure 
the longed-for blessings, he fears that wealth 
and power will tend toward selfishness and 
faction. 

He imagines all sorts of disasters in case we fail, 
and thinks some action toward an honorable 
reconciliation should be taken before the country 
strikes Scylla or Charybdis. 

Then he rehearses the story of his own woes, 
and, speaking of his misfortunes, says: "I can 
neither think nor write without dwelling on it. It 
lies down with me at night. It rises with me in 
the morning. I take up my pen and resolve not 
to write about it, but before a page is written 
I have referred to it. " 

That the letter was strictly personal, and not 
to be used to influence others, he adds: **I hope 
this letter will come safe to your hands ; let no ex- 
tracts or copies be made of it. " 



190 Silas Deane 

A letter of May lo, to James Wilton of Philadel- 
phia, gives nothing we have not already noticed. 

On May 20, he wrote a long letter to Jesse Root 
of Philadelphia, in which he explained his change 
of opinion: noisy, designing men had risen from 
the lowest order to places of authority; the 
government was poorly administered; anarchy, 
licentiousness, and violence prevail even in Con- 
gress; faction, cabal, and private interests too often 
vanquish reason, patriotism, and justice. 

More alarming is the depravity of morals; en- 
couraged by the laws making a depreciated 
currency a legal tender; grasping the rewards of 
dishonesty offered those in debt, greater injustice 
has been done than ever before among any people. 

To Deane, brooding over these and other 
sources of gloom, there emerged two propositions : 
there is no probabiHty of independency; if estab- 
lished, it would prove a curse. America grows 
weaker, England stronger, France more wary; 
freedom of legislation and commerce are delusive 
dreams under anarchy and tumult already rife 
among the colonies. 

Hostilities already prevail between Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. 
England has often interposed to save the civil 
and religious liberties of other countries against 



Discouraged 191 

France and Spain ; it will be better to have England 
as our friend than either of these. 

Deane uses considerable ingenuity to explain 
how we can avoid breaking our faith with France, 
by reconciliation with England, by showing that 
France indicates that she will feel at liberty to 
take a similar course if we are not successful. 

He quotes Franklin's earlier zeal to maintain 
the union with the British Empire and says, that 
since the causes for the civil war have ceased by 
the rescinding of obnoxious laws, we would do 
well to return to the country to which we are 
bound by ties of religion, laws, manners, and 
language. 

In a letter to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, written 
May 20, he urges him to let no copies or extracts 
be made of it. Had he taken counsel of a fear 
which we can easily read between the lines, and 
refrained from sending it and its companions, 
how different might have been his later years ! 

On June 10, Deane wrote his old friend Robert 
Morris a letter, which gives nothing we have not 
read in the other dreary epistles. 

Four days later, a letter to Gen. S. H. Parsons 
contains sentences, which would not have been 
written could Deane have looked forward to the 
splendid service of De Grasse at Yorktown : 



192 Silas Deane 

The French fleet cannot reach you till August or 
later, and little can be expected this summer. No- 
thing is more evident than that the present object of 
France and Spain is to waste the forces of Britain at 
the expense of America. If we gain independence, we 
shall be fortunate, if disputes do not carry us into 
civil war. 

Such is the gloomy view of a discouraged man, 
whose credit was gone, whose integrity was im- 
pugned, whose pocket was empty, as he brooded 
month after month and year after year, far from 
his country, of whose fortunes he had heard such 
conflicting reports, for whose future it was easy 
for him to fear the worst. 

There is no evidence that Deane had any corre- 
spondence with any officers of the British Govern- 
ment. He wrote those letters to personal friends 
in America, unburdening his heart, which had 
, grown weary with the weight of injustice, dis- 
grace and poverty. In two at least of the letters, 
he charged the readers to allow no copies to be 
made of them. 

It is the cry of a desponding man, not of a 
traitor. We may accuse him of lack of faith in 
his country, weakness, and loss of courage; we 
may say that his republicanism weakened, but 
we cannot justly charge him with treason. 



CHAPTER XII 

DEANE AN EXILE IN HOLLAND 

npHE experiences of Deane in the autumn of 178 1 
were discouraging in the extreme. Very (lif- 
erent were the fortunes of America with Wash- 
ington, Lafayette, Rochambeau, and De Grasse 
gathering their forces to crush ComwaUis, and close 
the war. On September 13, the day before Wash- 
ington arrived at Yorktown to take command of 
the armies of France and America, Deane wrote \ 
his brother Barnabas, as was mentioned earlier, 
that he was ill with fever and depression, but he 
was planning soon to meet his son in Ghent, where . 
he intended to pass the autumn. 

My patience is exhausted [he writes] and my affairs 
ruined by the unexampled conduct of Congress who 
have detained me here — it is now more than a year — 
waiting for the appointment of an auditor to settle 
my accounts, which, in reality, I believe they never 
wish, or desire to have settled. 

On September 19, at the time when Washington 
with Rochambeau, Chastelliix, and Knox were 

conferring with De Grasse on his flagship Ville 
13 193 



194 Silas Deane 

de Paris, concerning the coming battle, Deane 
was writing his friend James Wilson of the failure 
of his venture with masts and land sales. 

Its being known [he writes] that a merchant has 
made, or is about to make, any considerable ven- 
ture to America is of itself sufficient to hurt his credit 
in France. For myself almost everything I depended 
upon when I left America has failed. I built great 
/hopes on the mast contracts and had good right to do 
so at the time. I was persuaded that something 
might be done with lands. I had confidence that 
Congress, after suffering me to be calumniated as a 
public defaulter, and in effect treating me as such 
themselves, would certainly have an auditor ap- 
pointed; I was deceived also in this. 

On September 26, Deane wrote his brother 
Barnabas a depressing letter. 

There is no talk of peace at present; you will say 
I am a Cassandra, prophesying evil only. I cannot 
help it, our credit is so low no goods can be bought 
without cash on unquestioned European security. 
I know no merchant in France who has not lost by 
America, and too many are totally ruined. I confess 
the gloomy prospect has made me exceedingly un- 
happy, and makes me fear that public, as well as 
private, tranquillity will be unknown in our country 
during our lives. 

On September 26, he wrote John Jay com- 
plaining of the newspapers for coupling him with 



Exile in Holland 195 

Duane and Arnold, and thinks '* licentiousness in 
stigmatizing men in public trust with the vilest 
and most abusive epithets a fatal symptom of 
universal anarchy, more to be dreaded than the 
monarchy at the door. " 

On October 20, he wrote from Ghent to Ben- 
jamin Tallmadge of his fear that at the close of the 
war America will feel the despotic weight of the 
French army which will then number thirty 
thousand veterans. 

On October 2 1 , Deane wrote his brother that he 
feared that an earlier letter had been intercepted; 
he had learned that it and other letters had been 
published in New York. It was disagreeable to 
have them come out, but he was not sorry to have 
all America informed of his sentiments, and of the 
grounds on which they were founded. He adds, 
"I have seen nothing to alter my way of thinking. " 
This is plucky, though a little reckless, but there 
is no symptom here of anything traitorous. 

On October 21, he wrote Jonathan Trumbull: 
*'No nation ever preserved its liberty after ad- 
mitting a superior army of foreign mercenaries 
to fight its battles. The name of Independent 
States will not counterbalance the miseries and 
distresses of present and future burdens. " 

On November i, R. R. Livingston wrote John 



196 Silas Deane 

Jay from Philadelphia: ''As I know the con- 
fidence you once had in Deane I must caution you 
against having any communication with him; 
some letters, said to be his, have been furnished 
by Rivington, which, being compared with others 
received here, have marks of authenticity." 

A little later, Jeremiah Wadsworth wrote 
Deane of the gloomy picture his letters presented 
two days before in Rivington's New York Royal 
Gazette ; he said he had nothing to reply to all 
these assertions as they were founded on false 
information, despondency, and mistakes. 

Your old enemies pronounce you an apostate, and 
boldly assert that you are paid by Great Britain, and 
that before this you are in England. Your friends, 
whose distress is extreme from your letters, hope that 
the cold hand of despair, which was on you, caused 
you to see everything with a jaundiced eye. Before 
you receive this, I will hope that you have recovered 
yoiu spirits and obtained a better knowledge of our 
affairs, and have retracted your mistaken opinions. 

On November 11, Barnabas Deane, in a letter to 
Jacob Sebor, refers to the "intercepted letters," 
and says Deane' s enemies are freely coupling his 
name with Arnold's, adding, "I am more sur- 
prised at his imprudence at writing so freely than 
at any other action of his life. He has now given 



Exile in Holland 197 

his enemies just the opportunity they wanted to 
ruin him. " 

The same month, Deane wrote Edward Ban- 
croft a letter full of anxiety and distress over 
the ' ' intercepted letters. ' ' 

I never could imagine [he says] that my attach- 
ment to the true interests of my country could be 
questioned. Still, things in America would be hap- 
pier and we would enjoy greater liberties, subject to 
England. Fully convinced of this, my natural opin- 
ions and temper led me to say so to many Americans, 
who set themselves to misreport or exaggerate every 
expression of mine, and represent me as an enemy of 
my country and a partisan of British tyranny. 

He refers to the British taking important letters 
from a vessel. 

This [he says] gives me the greatest uneasiness 
lest mine should be among them ; for, though I neither 
expected nor required that my friends should keep 
their contents secret from our countrymen in public 
characters, yet should they be communicated to them 
through the English papers from New York, such a 
circumstance would fill the utmost measure of my 
misfortune. I can easily foresee the consequences; 
but should they prove ten times worse than I at 
present imagine, apprehensive as I naturally am, 
they will have no effect on me with regard to my 
attachment to my country and its liberties. 

To be obnoxious to that country which I once 
gloried in as the common parent of myself and fellow- 



198 Silas Deane 

citizens, for having been among the first to resist 
usurpation, and at the same time to become suspected 
where I have experienced so much politeness and 
hospitaHty, and to be represented in my own country 
as its enemy, is too much. 

One sees here the agony of a man who is ad- 
vancing still further into misery. He adds: 
"I will neither anticipate misfortune nor sink 
under it, while health and spirits remain with me, 
but for the past ten days both have threatened 
to leave me. " 

What sleepless nights, what vain regrets, what 
restless tossings, what burdened hours are here 
suggested! He goes on to speak of the rigid 
economy he is obliged to practise. 

This is the place to introduce an account of an 
interview which Elkanah Watson had with Deane 
in November, 1781. Watson says: 

On my return from Brussels I called on the once 
celebrated Silas Deane at Ghent. I found him a 
voluntary exile, misanthropic in his feelings, intent on 
getting money, and deadly hostile to his native land. 
I felt constrained on my return to Paris to announce 
to Franklin my conviction that Deane must be re- 
garded an enemy alike to France and America. He 
observed to me that similar representations had 
reached him, but he was unwilling to admit their 
truth. 



Exile in Holland 199 

Later, Watson revised this opinion, saying, 
"Such at the time were my impressions and the 
opinions I formed of Deane, I owe it to truth and 
justice to record his vindication from these stric- 
tures by a potent pen, that of John Trumbull, the 
brilliant author of McFingal, to whose criticism 
I submitted the compilation of my manuscript. " 
He expressed the following views in a letter dated 
January, 1823: 

Silas Deane [you say] among other things was a 
deadly enemy of his native land, but ambition, not 
avarice, was his ruling passion. In his early trans- 
actions at the Court of France, as the political and 
commercial agent of Congress, he rendered important 
service to his country, but, exceeding his powers, he 
made his recall necessary. Exasperated by the cool 
reception, and the delay in settling the account, he 
became engaged in a controversy with many of the 
most influential members of Congress. Defeated in 
many of his purposes, he repaired again to France, 
where he found his political reputation lost with the 
loss of his official character. The publication of 
letters charging the French Court with intrigue and 
duplicity made him obnoxious there, and drove him in- 
to voluntary exile. He lived in the Netherlands dis- 
satisfied, exasperated, and reduced almost to penury. 
Thus forced into an unnatural and friendless resi- 
dence in foreign countries, he gave himself up to rage, 
resentment, and actual despair, and vented his passion 
in execrations against France, America, and mankind. 



200 Silas Deane 

In this condition you found him. He considered 
himself as a man, not only abused and ill requited for 
his important services, but denied those pecuniary 
emoluments which had been promised him for his 
agency in Europe. 

This bears the marks of candor and good 
judgment ; neither Watson nor Trumbull accepted 
as true, reports, flying through the air, that Deane 
was in the pay of the British Ministry. 

There is a note by Lord North bearing upon 
this matter, dated March 3, 1781, in which he 
says: "I think Deane should have three thousand 
pounds, in goods for America. The giving him 
particular instructions would be liable to much 
hazard, but his bringing any of the provinces to 
offer to return to their allegiance on the former 
foot would be much better than by joint coopera- 
tion through Congress." 

There is nothing in this to incriminate Deane. 
There was a fund upon which ministers could draw 
for purposes of bribery, but there is no evidence that 
Deane received a shilling. All that can be proved 
from the above letter is the fact that Deane's un- 
happiness was known to Lord North, who would 
naturally regard him as possibly an easy mark. 

We have a letter of King George of the date, 
August 7, 1 78 1, which is as follows: 



Exile in Holland 201 

The letter Lord North has wrote to Sir Henry 
Clinton on the subject of the intercepted letters from 
Deane, he is transmitting to him, is very proper, and 
is the most likely means of rendering them of utility. 
I own I think them too strong in our favor to bear 
the appearance of his spontaneous opinion, but that, if 
suspected to be authentic, they will see that they have 
by concert fallen into our hands. The means Deane 
should have taken as most conducive to the object he 
seems now to favor would have been, first, to have 
shown that the hands of the French are too full to be 
able to give solid assistance to America, and to have 
pointed out the ruin that must attend the further 
continuance of the war. 

So far as this shows anything it shows that 
Deane had not endeavored in any deliberate, or 
in any passionate or ill-considered way, to play 
into the hands of the English and invite bribes 
from the British Ministry. 

Charles Isham says that there is no convincing 
evidence that Deane was in the pay of the Eng- 
lish, or was promised pay, when he wrote the 
"intercepted letters." So extreme was his de- 
spondency, and so bitter was his language after he 
returned to Paris that he was regarded by the 
English as a person who might serve the British 
interests. Possibly some English agent suggested 
to him that a commercial partnership would be 
available by him without intimation of a bribe, 



202 Silas Deane 

but the extravagance with which Deane overshot 
the mark, as King George himself says, is the 
reverse of the spirit of a man bidding for EngHsh 
gold. Deane sought no bribes; his letters are the 
outflow of keen despair, and contain the con- 
victions of a mind distorted by mistakes, dis- 
couragements, and mania. 

When Bancroft learned of their publication, he 
wrote back in terms of regret, and complete 
ignorance that his friend was in the pay of the 
British Government. Had Deane been treason- 
able, Bancroft was the most natural channel of 
communication with the English, and he could 
best have arranged the details. The business 
offered by Lord North came to nothing. There is 
an allusion of the king regarding Deane' s sin- 
cerity, to be interpreted in favor of his integrity, 
which is as follows: ''I quite agree with Lord 
North that the retreat of Mr. Deane to Ghent 
shows that his conduct is sincere. " Deane never 
incriminated himself as a bribe-taker with his 
relatives or intimates. 

The ''intercepted letters" offered a rich field 
to Tom Paine and other bitter enemies. Paine 
quotes with relish the remark of a man who pre- 
tended to be loyal to Deane, ''My old friend Duer 
says, 'Deane is a damned artful rascal.' " 



Exile in Holland 203 

Benjamin Tallmadge wrote Deane, December 
28, 1 78 1, that he was often spoken of as a traitor, 
a disappointed statesman, laboring under the just 
censures of his country, till the malice of thwarted 
pride and ambition drove him to the dreadful step. 

Meanwhile Deane was living in his cheap room 
with his son, taking meals at a plain boarding 
house. On December 21, he writes Frederick 
Grand that he was very ill. Three days later, 
he writes that he has a dry cough and can sleep 
but little. He hears from Barclay, whom Con- 
gress appointed to examine his accounts, that he 
has no orders to close them. 

On March 4, 1782, Franklin wrote Livingston, 
that there was no doubt about the genuineness of 
the ' ' intercepted letters. ' ' He says : 

Deane's conversation, since his return from America, 
has gone gradually more and more into that style, 
and at length he came to an open vindication of 
Arnold's conduct. He resides at Ghent, distressed 
both in mind and circumstances; he raves, and 
writes abundantly, and I imagine that it will end in 
his going over to join his friend Arnold in England. 
I had an exceedingly good opinion of him when he 
acted with me, and I believe that he was sincere 
and hearty in our cause; but he is changed, and his 
character ruined in his own country and in this, 
so I see no other but England to which he can now 
retire. 



204 Silas Deane 

He did not go to England for a year, and 
wise as the great philosopher was, for once he 
was mistaken; moreover, Franklin's reference to 
Deane's "friend Arnold" was undeserved, as we 
shall see in the next chapter. 

On March 30, 1782, Franklin wrote Morris from 
Paris: "Our former friend, Deane, has lost him- 
self entirely, and he and his letters are universally 
condemned. He cannot well return hither, and I 
think hardly to America. I see no place for him 
but England. He continues, however, to sit 
croaking at Ghent, chagrined, discontented, and 
dispirited." 

A letter from Deane to Franklin, bearing the 
date of May 13, 1782, can scarcely be called a 
"croaking letter" though it is discouraging and 
passionate. After thanking Franklin for urging 
Congress to settle his accounts, he sets forth his 
opinion that an independent democracy in alli- 
ance with the House of Bourbon would conduce less 
to peace and happiness than to be under the 
British constitution with abuses reformed. He 
adds: 

It is cruel and unjust in us to treat each other as 
enemies on this account. I have not betrayed any 
public trust, I have freely condemned the conduct of 
Arnold, as freely as I from the first condemned that of 



Exile in Holland 205 

those violent demagogues, who improved every 
circumstance and accident of his life to push him into 
desperate measures. My case, therefore, in every 
point of view, differs from his; I have neither corre- 
spondence nor interest, nor the prospect of any in 
Great Britain. The small remainder of my fortune, 
the most of my friends and family, and all my future 
hopes and prospects are in America. I have therefore 
every motive to make me wish for the liberty and 
happiness of my country, and I can with great sin- 
cerity declare, that if America, on experiment, shall 
find herself happier and more free under the present 
system than she ever was or could expect to be under 
the other, however modified or reformed, I shall re- 
joice to find I have judged erroneously, and that I 
have both written and spoken at least imprudently on 
the subject. 

I A letter from Beaumarchais to Morris written 

June 3, 1782, shows how cordial was his confi- 
dence in Deane : 

I address to you [he says] a faithful abstract of 
my accounts as they have been settled by Mr. Deane 
with whom alone, on behalf of the General Congress, I 
treated. His misfortunes, the malice with which his 
character, naturally mild and uniform, has been 
aspersed, and the complaints which I have heard in 
this country against certain of his writings, have not 
changed the opinion I formed of him. I will always 
do him the justice to say that he is one of those men 
who have contributed most to the alliance of France 
with the United States. I will even add that his 



2o6 Silas Deane 

laudable endeavors in the most difficult times 
merited perhaps another recommendation. I see 
there are intrigues among Republicans as well as 
in the courts of kings. This digression, a compas- 
sionate feeling for a man worthy of a better lot, 
forces from me, in writing to you, sir, who have loved 
him as I do. 

The abuse to which Deane was exposed in the 
newspapers is suggested by a certificate of Frank- 
lin published about this time as follows: 

Since certain paragraphs in English papers impute 
that Silas Deane had sometime after his first arrival 
in France purchased in that kingdom thirty thousand 
muskets, and that he gave three Hvres for each, being 
old, condemned arms ; that he had them cleaned and 
vamped up at a cost of three livres more; and that 
for each of these he charged and received a louis 
d'or, and that he also committed similar frauds 
in the purchase of other articles for the use of his 
country, I think it my duty, in compliance with his 
request, to certify and declare that the paragraph 
in question, according to my best knowledge and 
behef, is entirely false, and that I have never known 
or suspected any cause to charge said Silas Deane 
with any want of probity in any purchase or any 
bargain whatsoever. 

How sweeping and reckless were the charges 
appears from a quotation from a letter from 
William Lee to Samuel Thorpe, dated January 
17, 1783, as follows: "A correspondent has seen 



Exile in Holland 207 

the publication in America in which FrankHn is 
pubHcly charged as deep in the mire as Deane. " 

The exile wrote John Jay, Feburary 10, 1782, of 
his straitened circumstances, his being forced to 
contract debts for his support, which would not 
have been necessary could he have visited London, 
from which he was debarred through fear of 
creating prejudice; that he had been struggling to 
keep himself above the extremes of personal want 
and indigence; that he had been calumniated in 
America as a defaulter, grown rich out of pub- 
lic moneys, and this by those who had it at all 
times in their power to convict, and to make a 
public example of him had they found him guilty 
on a trial, to which he presented himself and for 
which he solicited; that his accounts had been 
before Congress for a year; and a year and a 
half before, when Barclay, who had been appointed 
auditor, wrote for instructions, he was told he was 
not to have any concern about the affair. In the 
words of Deane : 



If my enemies believed one word of what they as- 
serted and professed against me for five years past in 
America, would they hesitate one moment to bring 
me to trial? If Congress thought there were any 
grounds for the charges, would they be so unjust to 
their constituents as to refuse all examination? 



2o8 Silas Deane 

Deane's exile is made more bitter by the fact 

that his letters are intercepted; his brother had 

"^ ^ot heard from him for over a year, though many 

letters had been written, and he knew they reached 

' America. He wrote Barnabas February lo, 1783: 

Unhappily my letters, as well as every thing'else be- 
longing to me, have been regarded as free plunder by 
both parties. I hope to be able to go to London in a 
v" few days, and shall recover sufficient out of an old 
balance due me to answer my more pressing demands. 

He had stayed away from London to avoid 
giving further advantage to his enemies. He 
urges his brother to sell all his property, real and 
personal, and remit the proceeds to him; he 
expresses his willingness to have his accounts 
- ^ examined and decided upon by any disinterested 
merchants or bankers in Paris, and says that the 
balance due him is sixty thousand dollars. 

On February 10, 1783, he wrote Edward Ban- 
croft that he would like to visit Paris, if he were 
not liable to meet disagreeable words or actions, 
of which he had had sufficient. As he thinks of the 
good friends in Paris he longs to see, his mind goes 
back two years, to the time when he wrote the 
fatal letters, and he says : 

I wrote freely, and I confess unguardedly, my 
sentiments on our affairs at a very gloomy period. 



Exile in Holland 209 

It is no way extraordinary that my mind should be 
affected at the dangerous situation in which I then 
viewed everything dear to me to be in, nor that my 
pen should express the feelings of my heart, nor that 
I did not foresee events then unexpected by every- 
one; but an error in judgment is not a crime. Could 
the public view the letters of men of high station at 
that time to their friends on both sides of the water, 
mine would not appear to be the only desponding or 
criminal ones. 

On February 22, Jay wrote Deane from Paris 
a letter which must have wrung the heart of the 
exile. '*I was your friend, and should still have 
been so, " he said, ''had you not advised America 
to desert that independence which they had 
pledged each other their lives, fortunes, and 
sacred honor to support. " 

A little solace mingles in the bitter cup, as he 
{ says: ''The charges against you of peculation 
undoubtedly called for strict and speedy in- 
quiry; but I expected that you would make a 
satisfactory defense against them — I hope so still." 
Speaking of his desire to visit England, he says: 
"To my knowledge you are suspected of being 
in British interests. ... As circumstances press 
your going, probably you will venture; let me 
advise you to be prudent and cautious what com- 
pany you keep, and what conversations you hold 
14 



2IO Silas Deane 

in that country." This was good counsel for a 
man so inclined to talk as Deane was. Then fol- 
lows what we may regard as a fairly correct ex- 
planation of Deane's unfortunate ''intercepted 
letters." 

I write thus plainly and fully, because I still indulge 
the idea that your head may have been more to blame 
than your heart, and that in some melancholy despond- 
ent hour the disorder of your nerves affected your 
opinions and your pen. God grant this may have 
proved to have been the case, and that I may yet have 
reason to resume my former opinion, that you were a 
valuable, a virtuous, and a patriotic man. 

Deane himself came to regard this reasoning of 
his friend Jay as a true explanation of his folly. 
Writing Feburary 28, to M. LeRay Chaumont, 
he says he hopes the peace 

will settle people's minds, and that an individual will 
not be regarded as an enemy, because in an hour of 
despondency and apprehension for his country, he 
imprudently attempted to warn his countrymen of 
what he thought their danger. 

It is true I wrote many letters to America on what 
appeared at the time the dangerous and critical 
situation of my country; it is true I wrote them to 
my private friends for their information ; it is equally 
true that some of those letters were basely betrayed 
and that others were intercepted and published in New 
York, not to serve Great Britain so much as to injure 



Exile in Holland 211 

me, and for that purpose some of them were altered 
in many parts, and the whole placed in the most 
unfavorable light. 

Though I am ready to acknowledge that I was mis- 
informed and misled in some, and even in many things, 
and that I was imprudent to write or speak at all on 
the subject, yet as a free citizen I had a free right to 
do both. 

On February 28, Deane replied to Jay's pointed 
but friendly counsel, explaining the gloom in which 
he wrote the "intercepted letters, " adding: 

Unfortunately I am not blessed with that gay and 
sanguine disposition which leadeth the happy posses- 
sor of it to hope and to believe all things whatsoever 
they wish for. In such a situation, and with such 
feelings, it was not possible for me, if I wrote or spoke 
at all, not to express some sentiments tinctured by the 
gloom before me. I am not about to justify the part 
I took ; nay, I confess that when I bring it to the bar 
of prudence I am among the first to condemn it ; but , 
I cannot bring myself to regard an: imprudent and a 
criminal action as the same. I do not either justify 
or wholly excuse my conduct; but I must be that 
traitor to myself, which God knows I never was to my 
country, should I subscribe to that condemnation so 
outrageously pressed on me by many of my country- 
men. When I am charged with being in the British 
interests, it is implied and generally understood as 
being in British pay, but can anything give a stronger 
contradiction to this than the part I have acted both 
before and since writing those letters, and the dis- 



212 Silas Deane 

tressed situation in which I have lingered out a 
wretched and obscure exile in this place? 

For almost eighteen months past I have lived in 
lodgings barely decent, without a servant, and dined 
at an ordinary, a style of living which you well know 
I am neither accustomed nor inclined to, and to which 
necessity alone could ever reduce me — a hard ne- 
cessity indeed — for without this rigid economy I must, 
with an only son, of whom I have the right to promise 
quite the reverse, have been reduced to the extremes 
of want; and what has embittered even this scanty 
subsistence (as if I had not only a sufficient portion 
of gall in my cup) , I have owed the greatest part of it 
to a friend in Paris, who generously lent me money, 
still unpaid. I was never in England, neither have I 
intimate or stated correspondents in that country; I 
am personally unknown to any one, both of the old 
and the present administration, except a casual ac- 
quaintance with Lord Shelburne, Mr. Townsend, and 
Mr. Fox in 1776, at a dinner at a friend's house in 
Paris, may be called a personal acquaintance. 

Referring to Jay's statement that the charges 
of peculation called for strict and speedy inquiry, 
Deane said that for three years he had solicited 
an investigation; that, while it was not in his 
power to force Congress to action, it had been in 
their power to ruin him by blasting his character 
with their vague and general insinuations, and 
denying him the only possible means to justify 
himself to them and before the world. He quotes 



Exile in Holland 213 

Franklin's assertion of two months before that he 
never had the least cause to suspect his fidelity 
in money transactions for the public. 

Referring to the possible alternative of pub- 
lishing the state of the case in the papers, he says 
that this would have only thrown him back on the 
tempestuous ocean of newspaper litigation and 
abuse into which he once suffered himself to be 
driven, and in which he had been shipwrecked. 
"The bare mention of my name," he says, ''in 
a newspaper was, as I know and have lately ex- 
perienced, sufficient to set scribblers to work to 
abuse me; and the torments of a contest of this 
kind are like the torments of hell, endless, and to 
increase them the sufferer must ever be in bad com- 
pany. " With returning peace and tranquillity he 
hopes for justice; he does not look for public 
office, but only hopes to wipe off the aspersion cast 
on his character, and to convince the world that 
he merits in some degree the former opinion his 
friends held of him. 

So runs the dreary story of Deane's exile in 
Ghent, where for nearly a year and a half he lived 
in poverty, in cheap lodgings, taking his meals at 
a public eating-house. The presence of his son 
was company for him, if not a comfort, as the 
youth's health was not strong, and the father 



214 Silas Deane 

felt keenly the shadow which his misfortunes cast 
upon his boy. 

He had abundant time to review the whole 
situation, and eat his heart out with vain regret 
over his imprudence in allowing his despondency 
to direct his pen, and thus put into the hands of 
his enemies materials for completing his downfall. 
It must have been a relief to embark for London, 
for he cherished the hope which proved to be vain, 
of securing a balance due him there. 



CHAPTER XIII 

ISOLATION, POVERTY, AND MISERY IN ENGLAND 

T^HE first token of Deane's presence in England 
is in a letter written April i, 1783, to his 
brother Simeon, in which he said that after being 
delayed by illness in Ghent, he had come to 
London, where he purposed to stay only long 
enough to settle an old account and send to 
America his son, who was then ill with a return 
of the disorder which had affected him in his in- 
fancy. He says: ''It is a gloomy reflection to 
think that the son may be as unforttmate in 
his health as the father in his fortunes; but I 
submit, and I flatter myself with some degree of 
philosophic fortitude, to ills which I can neither 
prevent nor avoid." 

It is a satisfaction to see that Deane did some- 
thing besides brood over his misfortunes. He ad- 
vises the lawmakers of Connecticut to use their 
influence to liquidate and apportion the public 
debt without loss of time, and let each state take 
its portion and manage its own revenue. 

215 



2i6 Silas Deane 

Robert Morris had long been struggling with 
that problem as Superintendent of Finance, but 
his urgent appeals and arguments were, as he said, 
*'like preaching to the dead." Deane's good 
business head appears in his remark: "The 
great object of Congress is to make a common 
treasury, to be supplied by imposts and duties laid 
by themselves, and collected and disposed of by 
officers of their appointing. " 

On the same date as the above, he wrote James 
Wilson that his mercantile endeavors had all 
failed, he had tried in vain to sell lands in Illinois, 
to pick up broken fragments of fortune in various 
quarters and begin anew, but in all his discourage- 
ments he was sustained by a ''firm belief in a 
superintending Providence." 

A week later he wrote his brother Barnabas 
that his son Jesse was miserably weak and low, 
and an incision had been made in his neck. 

In July, he wrote Barnabas that he was plan- 
ning to send his son to America, though he feared 
he would never be well; his business ventures 
had come to nothing; of forty thousand dollars 
he had left in M. X^haumont's hands, nothing 
could be recovered from the bankrupt. Reviewing 
his long series of misfortunes, he speaks of the 
combination of the discouragements which beset 



Poverty and Gloom 217 

him and of the gloomy letters received in the spring 
of 1 78 1, when he wrote the "intercepted letters." 
Overwhelmed by trials, he had stayed in exile 
and obscurity in Ghent rather than expose himself 
to the censures, persecutions, and malignant 
shafts of his enemies; but he could not escape, 
for in all the English papers paragraphs were 
inserted declaring that he had defrauded his 
country of large sums and fled from justice. 
Within three weeks of his coming to London, he 
was set upon by a lot of mischievous scribblers.^ 
who renewed the attack. 

Benedict Arnold called upon him at once, 
went to his room unannounced, and a remembrance 
of past personal civilities and hospitality re- 
strained Deane from closing the door in his face, 
but he declined Arn9ld's invitation to dine at his 
house in company with gentlemen of rank and 
character. The next day, Deane changed his 
lodgings, but Arnold found where he was, and 
went up again unannounced, when Deane told 
his unwelcome visitor frankly not to visit him, 
and that he could not regard him in the same 
light as formerly and he ''had not seen Arnold 
since, except passing in his coach. " One morning 
a London paper said, "Yesterday Mr. Deane had 
a long interview with Lord North." The next 



2i8 Silas Deane 

morning, "Mr. Deane was at the Duke of 
Portland's levee, dined with Mr. Fox," etc., etc. 

The fact is [writes Deane] I have never seen any 
of these ministers except at a distance in the House of 
Commons or in the park, nor do I know any of them 
even by sight, except it be Lord North and Mr. Fox, 
whose figures are such that once seen they must ever 
afterward be known. 

The key of this chronic animosity Deane thinks 
he discovers in the fact, that as soon as the pre- 
liminaries of peace had been signed, Americans 
hastened to England from all parts of Europe, 
with the sanguine expectation that British ports 
and stores of merchandise would be open to 
them, and that they might obtain whatever they 
wanted, but they were disappointed in every 
quarter for merchants in America still owed the 
English dealers two million pounds. The cause 
for failure was imputed to Deane's advice, which 
influenced the counsels of the English cabinet. 

In a letter to Franklin of October 19, 1783, 
Deane explains the situation more fully. He says 
he accidentally became acquainted with Lord Suf- 
field, and answered his inquiries in a conversation 
in the presence of Sir Robert Harris. Lord Suffield 
was writing a pamphlet on the commercial re- 
lations of England and America. Deane by no 



Poverty and Gloom 219 

means sympathized with the position of Lord 
Suffield, and never talked with him without taking 
the opposite side. "Yet such has been my fate, " 
he writes FrankHn, "that simply from my intimacy 
with him, I have had those arguments and princi- 
ples, which I opposed, attributed to me." Lord 
Suffield's object was to secure to England the 
carrying trade, and to preserve the Navigation 
Act from being in any way altered. Deane in- 
sisted that the carrying could not, beyond a certain 
degree, be retained by England, and that the 
Navigation Act was a wise measure in its time, 
but had gone out of date. 

Deane never lost the affection and confidence of 
Beaumarchais, and in a letter of November 3, 
1783, he wrote him: 

You say that, from the reports of my friends, you 
apprehend that my misfortunes have affected my 
spirits, and turned me toward a melancholy state, 
against which you cautioned me. I thank you for 
your advice, but shall be doubly obliged to you for a 
prescription to prevent that fatal, soul-annihilating 
disorder. Indeed, I am not gay, I am not naturally 
so inclined ; and it is now some years since I have had 
anything to dispel gloom and excite gayety. I have 
at times been very low in spirits, my health has 
suffered from it, but I still survive, though lately very 
ill, and still so weak as to be confined to my chamber; 
but a consciousness of integrity supports me; I hold 



220 Silas Deane 

it fast, and like good old Job, neither man nor devil 
shall ever make me let it go. The painful recollection 
of ingratitude it is not in the power of medicine to 
expel. I would not change my situation with my 
enemies ; I have been guilty of many errors and weak- 
nesses, but never of infidelity to my trust, or of in- 
gratitude, or injustice to my fellow men. 

On the same day as the above he wrote his 
brother Simeon, explaining that his complaint for 
not hearing from his exiled brother was not be- 
cause of any neglect on his part; he had written 
twenty times, he says : 

I have lived to see such things, that I am surprised 
at nothing. Though I have become almost callous to 
reproach, and inured to misfortune, and to the treach- 
erous conduct of pretended friends, yet I have strug- 
gled hard during a gloomy exile in a gloomy country, 
' to keep my spirits from entirely deserting me ; and these 
struggles have at times greatly affected my health. 

No set of men were ever guilty of greater meanness 
and cruelty in intercepting the correspondence of 
absent friends. This cruelty has been wanton; for, 
-since the publishing of my unfortunate letters, I have 
not hinted at politics in any of my correspondence. 

You wish to know my plans; I really have none. 
I am quite at sea, without compass or friendly star 
to direct my course. My frail and ill-provided bark 
must still drive as chance or accident impels. 

I begin to regard my demand on Congress as des- 
perate ; they have long since wanted both the will and 
the ability to do justice to those who saved them. 



Poverty and Gloom 221 

That Deane was passing into a healthier mood 
appears in his references to his study of machines, 
especially of stationary steam engines for manu- 
facturing purposes, with a view of introducing 
them into America. 

A singular pathos attaches to this period, from 
the fact that he barely failed of an interview with a 
man he esteemed above almost all others, whose 
good will he longed for, — ^John Jay; to whom he 
wrote from his Fleet Street lodgings on November 
4, 1783, that he had been held back by illness from 
calling on him, and when he called Jay was gone. 
''I am anxious for one hour's conversation with 
you," he wrote. 

In a letter to Thomas Barclay of November 7, 
he reviews his accounts, says he has vouchers for 
almost everything, and pleads for an order for a 
part at least of the money due him. 

On the same day, he wrote Franklin concerning 
the reports circulating to his disadvantage, saying 
that he had improved every opportunity to have 
the restraint on commerce in the West Indies 
removed or moderated. 

On November 3, 1783, Deane issued an address 
to the people of the United States, having sent 
the copy of it over by his son Jesse. He reviews 
the three years' misfortune and exile, and says 



222 Silas Deane 

the two charges against him are, first, that he is 
guilty of fraud and peculation in the management 
.of public moneys; second, that after his return 
to France in 1781, he wrote letters from interested 
motives, and with a base and treacherous desire 
to injure his country, having previously engaged 
in the interests of her enemies. He insists that a 
man with his character and standing, up to the 
time of his going to Europe in the spring of 1776, 
should not be condemned without a hearing. 

After most of the contracts for stores and ships 
had been completed, there came to him, early in 
1778, the call of Congress that he should return 
and report on the state of affairs in Europe. 
Advised by Vergennes and Franklin to keep the 
recall a secret, he could not in the complicated 
state of affairs, having had dealings with widely 
scattered men, and forwarding goods secretly, 
make up his accounts at a few days' notice. Had 
he attempted to do so, it would have defeated the 
secrecy which he was advised to observe. 

Though he had received no intimation from any 
letter from Congress of dissatisfaction with his 
management, he was aware that his fellow- 
commissioner, Arthur Lee, was a jealous and art- 
ful enemy, and that Lee was in correspondence 
with leading men in America; therefore he was 



Poverty and Gloom 223 

anxious to delay his return until all accounts were 
settled and closed, but yielding his judgment, he 
set sail, taking from Grand, the banker, a state- 
ment of all the moneys received or paid out on the 
account of the United States. With this and the 
testimonials of the king, the minister, and his 
colleague and intimate friend, Franklin, as to this 
zeal and integrity, he had no fear of censure for 
lack of vouchers in detail; but the venomous pen 
of Lee had poisoned the minds of public men be- 
yond anything he had imagined, by insinuating 
that he had become immensely rich in public 
service, and consequently that he must have been 
guilty of dishonesty, and, though summoned home 
to report on the state of European affairs, his 
first audience with Congress was after six weeks' 
attendance and solicitation. He then gave a 
verbal statement and asked, that if there was any 
charge against him, he might be heard in ex- 
planation and defense ; he was not told of any, and 
though Congress appeared in no way dissatisfied 
with his conduct, and the settlement of public 
and private affairs pressed him to return, he could 
not obtain any resolution of Congress either 
to approve or disapprove, or another hearing until 
late in December, though he asked almost every 
day for another audience. 



224 Silas Deane 

In December, he gave a written narrative, and 
Congress appointed a committee, which did not 
give him an audience or ask him a question. 
The committee studiously evaded every opportu- 
nity to get information or hear explanation. 

During more than fourteen months of stay in 
Philadelphia, Deane had only two audiences 
with Congress, and not one with the committee 
specially appointed. 

In December, 1778, finding that there was a 
party determined on his ruin, which had sufficient 
influence to prevent all examination, and to bear 
him , down by the most mortifying delay and 
neglect, he issued his first address to the public 
through the newspapers ; this led Congress to give 
him a hearing and appoint the committee. The 
papers took up the matter in the most outrageous 
and abusive way, and Deane made no reply to 
their lies, but kept urging Congress and the com- 
mittee to give him a hearing. From December, 
1778, to August, 1779, he wrote Congress more 
than thirty letters humbly petitioning for a public 
examination and trial; they never took the least 
notice of his requests. Through private con- 
versations with the members, he learned that the 
only difficulty lay in the fact that his accounts 
^were unsettled. To obviate this, Deane returned 



Poverty and Gloom 225 

to France with an assurance from Congress that 
it would empower a man to settle the accounts, 
but when that officer was appointed, his powers 
were so limited that he declined to act. Deane 
wrote immediately to Congress asking for more 
ample power for the auditor. Twelve months of 
heavy expense went by, with a vague charge of 
default over him, and no word came from Congress 
until November, 1781, when he learned of the 
appointment of Thomas Barclay as consul, but 
Barclay told Deane he had received no instructions. 

Soon after this came the mortification of the 
publishing of the "intercepted letters " of May and 
June. Proscribed, obnoxious, exiled, he still 
waited for Congress, which had had his accounts 
over eighteen months; it was over five years 
since he had money or employment from the 
public. He says: "Has any fraud been de- 
tected? Had I been guilty of any, would not my 
enemies have published it, instead of charging me 
generally of being a defaulter of uncalculated 
millions?" Ought not the written statements 
of Franklin in 1778, and again in 1782, as to his 
ability, faithfulness, and honesty, to have some 
weight? 

He reviews his whole career in Europe, shows 
how he managed the difficult task of forwarding 

IS 



226 Silas Deane 

supplies, with the French government vacillating, 
English officers alert, and little money, yet in 
November, 1776, two hundred brass cannon and 
mortars, thirty thousand fusils, with ammunition, 
clothing, and tents for as many men, were at the 
ports ready for the ships, which were there to 
receive them, and after the most positive orders 
given by the Court forbidding the sailing of the 
ships, two vessels, the Amphitrite and Mercure, 
were got to sea under pretense of sailing to San 
Domingo, and these carried large military supplies 
to Portsmouth in April, 1777; and when General 
Burgoyne capitulated, his army was surrounded 
by men armed with the fusils and supported b}^ 
artillery sent over in these vessels. 

The victory at Saratoga led France to conclude 
a treaty with America, and in a great degree 
decided the independence of the United States. 

He quotes Beaumarchais' letter of March 23, 
1778, in which he assures Congress that if the 
money, stores, and merchandise have been of any 
use to America, the gratitude of the country is 
due "to the indefatigable pains Deane had taken 
through the whole transaction. " 

We look with special interest to Deane' s ex- 
planation of the "intercepted letters" of 1781 : the 
news from America was gloomy, the British 



Poverty and Gloom 22^ 

forces were in possession of the whole seacoast 
from the Chesapeake southward ; they ravaged and 
distressed the country ; their ships intercepted our 
trade; America had no fleet; Washington's army 
was too weak for offensive operation: Congress 
had neither money nor credit; Washington de- 
clared ''that without a decidedly superior fleet 
to that of Great Britain in America, all opposition 
to the British forces would soon be at an end." 
All letters from America were in this style. 

My letters were published [he adds sadly], others 
not. I then thought that a reunion, not simply on the 
^ condition of being replaced in the state in which we, 
( were pre\'ious to 1763 (for which alone Congress in 
1774, and in 1775, petitioned) , but on terms every way 
preferable ; namely, to be governed solely by laws of our 
( own enacting, taxed by our own assemblies, and of en- 
joying the same commercial privileges and pro- 
i tection as other members of the British Empire — 
, a condition preferable to that of war, hazarding the 
I experiment of independent sovereignty. This opin- 
' ion which I gave my friends was regarded as little 
I short of high treason. 

I The first and second Continental Congresses 
I petitioned for a restoration to the former condi- 
1 tions of "law, loyalty, faith, and blood." 
< Soon afterward Franklin drew up several 
resolutions declaring that the idea that "we aim 



228 Silas Deane 

at independence and the abolition of the Navi- 
gation Act is groundless." 

After the Declaration of Independence was 
issued, Franklin, with the approval of Congress, 
^^ wrote to Lord Howe, July 30, 1776: "Long did I 
endeavor to preserve from breaking the British 
' "Empire, for I knew that once broken, perfect re- 
union of the parts could not be hoped for. " 
^ "Was it a crime for me," wrote Deane, "in 
/ 1 78 1, to wish for a perfect reunion, and in private 
urge my friends to promote the event which Dr. 
> Franklin had most devoutly wished ? " 
^ Three fourths of the ships sailing from the 
United States had been captured, the paper of 
Congress was not passed at any rate; General 
Washington said that without aid from France to 
pay the troops, and a fleet superior to the British, 
all opposition would end with that campaign. 
The whole of the naval force ordered by France 
that season to the West Indies and America was 
not equal to the British. De Grasse was first 
ordered to the West Indies, thence to the Conti- 
nent, but as more than four hundred sail of the 
French merchant ships would need convoy from 
the West Indies, it was given out in France that 
previous to sailing northward, a part of De 
Grasse's fleet would attend the merchant ships. 



Poverty and Gloom 229 

No one at the time would expect that the Count 
would take every French ship of war with him, 
or that Cornwallis would fix on one of the most 
unfavorable positions of the country for defense, 
or that General Clinton would allow Washington 
and Rochambeau to march without opposition 
to Virginia, or that several British ships would 
remain in the West Indies, thereby making the 
French force superior to the British. 

In that critical time, that dangerous situation, 
the unfortunate letters were written, and distorted 
in the publication. 

It is needless to say that this appeal made 
little difference with the attitude of the country 
toward Deane. The damaging, the insuperable 
fact which stood in his way was that his ac- 
counts with Congress were unsettled, and the 
inference gathered, even by considerate men, was 
that there was good reason for the hostility of 
Congress. 

The coiTespondence of Deane and Jay at this 
period is painful ; the former was eager to meet the 
latter, and extremely sensitive to his opinion. 
Any delay of the latter in writing increased Deane' s 
misery. The culmination of agony was reached 
in a letter from Jay to Deane, dated February 
23, 1 784, in which he said : 



230 Silas Deane 

It is painful to say disagreeable things to any person, 
and especially to those with whom I have lived in 
habits of friendship. But candor forbids reserve. 
You were of the number of those who possessed my 
esteem, and to whom I was attached. I cannot ex- 
press the regret I experienced from the cruel necessity 
I thought myself under of passing over the card and 
letter in silence ; but I love my country and my honor 
better than my friends, and even my family. You 
are either exceedingly injured, or no friend to America ; 
and while doubts remain on that point, all connection 
between us must be suspended. I wish to hear what 
you might have to say on that head, and should have 
named a time and a place for an interview, had not an 
insurmountable obstacle intervened to prevent it. 
I was told by more than one, whose information I 
thought I could rely on, that you received visits from, 
and were on terms of intimacy with, General Arnold. 
Every American who gives his hand to that man, in my 
opinion, pollutes it. I think it my duty to deal thus 
candidly with you, and assure you with equal sin- 
cerity that it would give me cordial satisfaction to 
find you able to acquit yourself in the judgment of the 
dispassionate and the impartial. 

On May 3, Deane wrote Jay of "the insur- 
mountable obstacle, " saying: 

One hour's conversation would do more to convince 
you that I am neither an enemy to our country nor 
intimate with General Arnold than a volume. I 
have no interest to deceive you with respect to General 
Arnold ; on my first arrival in London twelve months 
since, he called on me abruptly two or three times, 



Poverty and Gloom 231 

and as it happened, there was company, some of them 
Americans, with me each time. The last time, as I 
waited him down, I requested him to discontinue his 
visits, which he did, and it is now ten months since 
I have seen him. 

Deane exploded the charge of advising the 
British Ministry to pass measures unfriendly to 
American commerce, showing that his attitude 
had been the opposite of that attributed to him, 
that he never met Lord Suffield without a dispute 
on the commerce with the West Indies. 

That Deane was not calling upon his imagi- 
nation, when he wrote of the commercial charges, 
appears from a letter from Laurens to Livingstone, 
dated Bath, July 17, 1783, in which the writer" 
says: "I was informed yesterday (and through 
pretty good authority, I speak only as from re- 
port) that Mr. Silas Deane, who has been in 
London about four months, has been an active 
hand in chalking out a treaty of commerce with 
us." 

Deane's worry in this gloomy period was in- 
creased by the unjust charge of a dissolute member 
of the Webb family that Deane had defrauded the 
family, whereas for years Deane urged the ap- 
pointment of auditors to settle everything in 
equity. 



232 Silas Deane 

From a letter to Beaiimarchais we learn the 
rigid and exacting conditions under which Barclay 
was to judge his case. Explicit vouchers were de- 
manded for everything; the quality of clothing, 
cannon ,f usees, and powder sent over seven years be- 
fore was to be inquired into, and no money paid 
until Congress should approve. "The age of Me- 
thuselah, " wrote Deane, "would be needed for your 
account and mine. " In reality, it was half a cen- 
tury before the heirs of Beaumarchais and Deane 
were paid even a percentage of their just dues. 

Deane's misery in London is disclosed in a letter 
to his brother Simeon, April 3, 1784, in which he 
says his name is again taken up, and from being 
a poor, distressed, and even a despised exile, he is 
spoken of as a man who influenced the counsels 
of nations and directed the late ministers in their 
measures concerning our commerce. He says: 
"Every American in Europe professes to believe 
this fully, and I expect, for a time at least, it will be 
received and credited without question, and hence 
my correspondence may be again intercepted. " 

He does not authorize his brother to contradict 
these reports, for 

Though I sent you proofs of the falsity, strong as 
those of holy writ, or mathematical demonstration, 
it would avail nothing in the present temper of the 



Poverty and Gloom 233 

times. It is the general belief of my countrymen here 
that, but for the advice and information that I gave 
on my first arrival here, we should have been admitted 
to a free commerce with British West Indies, and every 
other part of the British Dominion, on the same terms 
as before separation. 

This is untrue. The only interview he ever had 
with the ministers was long after the measure was 
taken, and the reason for his asking for an inter- 
view then was to persuade them to adopt a dif- 
ferent plan, and lay our commerce open to the 
West Indies for everything, except the carrying 
of sugar to Europe, and he believes that would 
have been adopted had it not been for the sudden 
change in the Ministry. 

I do not blame my countrymen [he sadly continues] 
for their suspicions of me; they know that I am a 
man greatly injured, that I have in fact been un- 
gratefully proscribed and driven from my country, 
and they know that I am not devoid of passion and 
resentment, and the conclusion which they draw is 
natural, and though in present instance unjust, it 
would be to no purpose to attempt to convince them 
at present. 

Deane's despondency, in view of the hope- 
lessness of his political and financial situation, 
was relieved by tours among the manufacturing 
towns, to examine new inventions in machinery, 



234 Silas Deane 

of most of which he made drafts, with the hope 
of introducing some of them into America. 

Speaking of his accounts, he says Barclay is so 
tied up that there is no prospect of any settlement, 
especially as Congress has nothing to pay him. 

It was while touring through the manufacturing 
districts of England, hoping to find some new 
avenue toward the recovery of his fortunes, that 
A Deane had a sickening experience with a man who 
had been apparently one of his warmest friends, 
Henry Laurens, president of Congress. 
^ In December 1783, while Deane was visiting 
Birmingham, Laurens reached the city, and seeing 
Deane and Dr. Priestly together, sought out a 
-Mr. Russel, an intimate friend of Priestly's, and 
vtold him that Deane was unworthy of confidence 
on four counts. These were promptly delivered 
to Priestly, who had the frankness to give the in- 
formation to Deane, who was able at once to re- 
fute them and retain the confidence and friendship 
of Priestly. 

The four charges were as follows: 

1. That Deane was poor and in no decent 
estimate before entering public life. 

2. That he shipped two vessels with goods 
from France. 

3. That while commissioner he intercepted 



Poverty and Gloom 235 

the despatch sent by Captain Folger, and put in 
blank paper. 

4. That on his return he used every artifice 
to avoid being called to account. 

Yet in conversation Laurens admitted that he 
did not doubt but the time would come when Dean^ 
would justify himself. Deane wrote a paper an- 
swering the four charges of Laurens. After 
reviewing his work in France up to the time of 
his recall, he says Laurens, president of Congress, 
received him with open arms, congratulated him 
on the prospect of disappointing his enemies, and 
said that he had always opposed the resolution for 
the recall. 

Though warned by his knowledge of the enmity 
of Arthur Lee, William Lee, and Izard, and by 
Hosmer of Connecticut, an old student friend, 
that it was the plan of his enemies to undermine 
and destroy him by delay, Laurens' warm ex- 
pression of friendship prevented Deane 's enter- 
taining the least doubt of his sincerity, and 
sixteen months went by while Deane waited, 
hoping that Congress would take action. 

In that time Deane wrote forty-two appli- 
cations for examination and decision, until at 
length he saw that Laurens was in conspiracy 
with the Lees and Izard to prevent his return. 



236 Silas Deane 

As to the four charges: 

1. Low estate and poverty. While member 
of Congress for two terms, Deane had served on 
many important committees and had an unhmited 
credit. Livingstone, Alsop, Maurice, and Lewis 
committed to his sole management a contract of 
forty thousand pounds, and with Livingstone and 
Alsop he had other large concerns in trade. He 
lived in the first style until the depreciation of 
the paper of Congress swept away the major part 
of his fortune, which was invested in bonds and 
mortgages. Compared with Laurens he was poor, 
but his money was not acquired by slavery, by the 
toil and distress of hundreds of slaves, or by con- 
signments of negroes. 

2. As to the sending over two ships with valu- 
able cargo. Laurens knew that he had not enough 
money to purchase one half of one of them, but 
the insinuation was that the money came from the 
British government. Suppose he had sent over 
twenty ships, if he could do it without neglect 
of duty what occasion was there for criticism? 
But Laurens knew that his statement about even 
two ships on his own account was false. When 
Deane went to France he had arranged with Morris 
to appear there as a merchant, and a small brig- 
antine was sent from Bordeaux, of which Deane 



Poverty and Gloom 237 

owned one third and Morris another third. That 
ship was captured by the EngHsh. Six months 
afterward a larger ship was sent out of which 
Morris owned one fourth, Deane one fourth, and 
a house in Paris one half, but with no profits 
owing to depreciation of money. ''I put not a 
trunkful of goods on the vessels which carried 
military supplies, though I might have done it, 
as Laurens has every opportunity to know, for 
he has been many months in France." 

3. Equally false was the charge concerning 
the "intercepted letters." 

4. As to the reluctance for the investigation at 
the hands of Congress, Deane wrote many letters 
soliciting inquiry, and they were laid on the table. 

I was with Mr. Laurens daily [wrote Deane]. 
I did not see beneath that solemn mask which he 
never puts off. Colonel Duer seemed interested in me, 
and when the coming to a resolution on my conduct 
could no longer be delayed, a motion was made to take 
the matter into consideration, that I might be de- 
tained no longer. There was no opposition, but 
just as the question was about to be put, Mr. Laurens, 
contrary to all precedent, rose, and with great ap- 
pearance of candor and expressions of esteem for me, 
informed Congress that some weeks before he had 
received private letters from Mr. Izard, and as Mr. 
Izard wished him to show them to Colonel Duer, he 
desired that gentleman to call on him to jointly ex- 



238 Silas Deane 

amine the letters to see whether it was proper to lay 
any part of them before Congress. Upon this Congress 
voted to postpone all action on me to some future day. 

That evening Deane called on Laurens and 
was greeted by the solemn yet cordial president, 
who piously told him that his call must be by the 
direction of Divine Providence, for he was think- 
ing of Izard's letters, which the two men proceeded 
to consider. Those letters were written in Feb- 
ruary, March, April, and June, 1778, and they 
contained little more than complaints of the con- 
duct of Franklin and Deane in negotiating the 
treaties. Here is a sample: *'How these gentle- 
men could take upon them to act so directly in 
opposition to their instructions I cannot conceive. 
Dr. Franklin has taken upon himself, expressly 
contrary to the instructions of Congress, to with- 
hold the treaty from me.'* Of Deane he said: 

I shall avoid entering into particulars respecting this 
gentleman, and shall only give my opinion of him, 
which is that if the whole world had been searched, 
I think it would have been impossible to find one 
more unfit for the office into which he has by the 
storm and convulsions of the times been shaken. 

Of Franklin he wrote : 

His abilities are great and his reputation high. 
Removed as he is from the observations of his con- 



Poverty and Gloom 239 

stituents, if he is not guided by principles of virtue and 
honor, those abilities and that reputation may pro- 
duce the most mischievous effects. In my con- 
science I declare to you that I believe to be under no 
such internal restraints. . . . Nothing but my 
own observation could have convinced me so thor- 
oughly how undeservedly it is possible to be bestowed. 
If anything was necessary to make the effrontery 
which I have complained of complete, it was Dr. 
Franklin's observation that if my observations were 
ever so just, it was now too late for any remedy. His 
tricks and chicanery put it out of my power to make 
any objection, before the treaties were signed and 
sent to America, and then he gives that as a reason 
why no remedy should be attempted. In my con- 
science I believe him to be an improper person to be 
intrusted with the management of the affairs of 
America in this kingdom. If sent to Vienna he will 
not have an opportunity of doing any harm. 

One smiles at the following comment of the 
high-minded Izard on Franklin: "His tricks are 
in general carried on with so much cunning that 
it is exceedingly difficult to fix them on him. " 

After reading these illuminating letters together, 
Laurens, with professions of great friendship, 
asked Deane's advice whether he should suppress 
them as ebullitions of anger and resentment at 
some supposed neglect, or lay them before Con- 
gress. Deane saw through this flimsy schemer. 
"I plainly saw," says he, "that Laurens wished 



240 Silas Deane 

me to advise the total suppression of the letters, 
which advice he could afterward turn into a re- 
quest on my part, to give the contents greater 
force." Deane was too shrewd to fall into the 
snare, but told Laurens that he was too much 
interested to give advice, but the whole or none 
should be given to Congress; that Laurens was 
the proper judge; that the only charge against 
himself was haughtiness of temper and inca- 
pacity, while the charge against Franklin was 
breach of trust and a want of any principles 
either of virtue or honor, and that he could 
answer for his absent friend as fully as for 
himself ; that no specific charge could be brought 
against either, which he would decline or evade 
answering. 

Laurens seemed undecided, said Izard was 
passionate, but he was his friend, and to lay 
the matter before Congress would tend to hurt 
him. The next day Deane met Laurens coming 
out of Congress, and with melancholy voice the 
latter said, "I believe Mr. Izard will never for- 
give me, for I have laid the whole letters before 
Congress. " 

The only effect of the letters was to defer action 
on Deane's accounts. Every request for a hearing 
was refused, and on October 3, a letter from 



Poverty and Gloom 241 

Arthur Lee was read in Congress, which com- 
plained of Deane's unsettled accounts and ex- 
travagant contracts, not charging him with 
dishonesty, but only with imprudent management. 
Congress passed no censure, but kept silent, until 
Deane's public appeal of December 5, which was 
resented by Laurens, who, on the morning of its 
publication, left the chair because Deane reflected 
I upon him, a fact which he thought should be 
noticed by the House. Finding the majority 
against him he resigned the presidency, and Jay 
I was chosen in his place. From that hour Laurens 
j became Deane's open and avowed enemy, and 
faction and disorder became so rife that con- 
i tending parties took arms, and shed blood in the 
j streets. 

] There is an interesting letter of Robert Morris 
\ to Deane, dated December 5, 1785, which sheds 
I light on this gloomy chapter in Deane's life. 
I The great financier says he could not take up any 
I of Deane's manufacturing schemes for lack of 
{ funds; he advised him not to come to America, 
j for he would risk a cool reception from those 
I who persisted in attributing bad motives, and 
j indifference from others who were convinced by 
Deane's assurances, but lacked the courage to 

avow their convictions. He continues: 
16 



242 Silas Deane 

Those few who have charged your errors to im- 
prudence, not wickedness, being unable to stem the 
torrent, must give way to it. From the hand of time 
alone can you expect that the impression against you 
will be obliterated ; but in the course of things, a time 
will come when people will be disposed to hear you and 
to believe, because of such an opportunity, the ulti- 
mate opinion. 

A ray of comfort like this was meager enough to 
a proud man compelled to entreat his brother 
Barnabas to send him a few dollars to put bread 
into his mouth. At other times black night shut 
down upon him, as when, sick and helpless in 
1788, he was robbed of his clothing, and of a part 
of his valuable papers, which were sold to the 
United States government. Deane suffered much 
#Hhrough those years of isolation and poverty 
in England. At length he gave up all expectation 
of justice at the hands of Congress. Aside from 
the fact that his country was wallowing through 
the mire of financial depression, bankruptcy, and 
distress, occasioned by the long war and de- 
preciation of the currency, he clearly saw that 
Congress would not vote to do him justice, because 
such a vote would virtually condemn the men 
who had for years so bitterly wronged him. In 
such a combination and succession of losses, mis- 
fortunes, and disappointments, we wonder that he 



Poverty and Gloom 243 

did not utterly lose heart and even mind ; that he 
did not was no doubt due in some degree to the 
fact that he never lost the hope of reestablish- 
ing his fortune by some enterprise in America, 
toward which he was ever looking. 



CHAPTER XIV 

deane's last enterprise and its failure 

XV 7E have noticed how Deane had tried in vari- 
ous ways to rebuild his shattered fortunes, 
and regain his standing in the business world. 

In July, 1785, he wrote his stepson, S. B. Webb, 
that he was studying the manufacturing towns of 
England, had seen a machine which spun nearly 
five thousand threads at once; he was also in- 
\ terested in a corn mill ; that he was intimately ac- 
quainted with inventors who were making immense 
fortunes ; that he was writing to several friends in 
America about setting up mills. 

About that time Deane proposed to the English 
Ministry a plan for a navigation canal from Lake 
Champlain to the St. Lawrence, via Chambly. 

The fall is ninety feet, and, as early as 1775, he 
had brought the project before Holdimand and his 
successor, Lord Dorchester, governors of Quebec, 
to open the lake to ships from England. 

Additional study deepened his conviction that 
it would be a valuable part of the system of inland 

244 



Fresh Hopes Die Away 245 

navigation which gave England five thousand 
miles of artificial waterways before the era of rail- 
ways, and he gave the results of his studies to 
Lord Sydney, explaining that it would open an 
avenue from an extensive country to the West 
Indies, for the carriage of cattle, hogs, flour, 
lumber, and fish. He thought it could be built for 
ten thousand pounds, and he asked for the office 
of superintendent while building. 

The enterprise comm.ended itself to the in- 
fluential men to whom he applied, but the health 
of the much-tried man was a question which must 
be reckoned with. On June 30, 1 778, Deane wrote 
Lord Sufifield that he was really too weak to write, 
that his fever was constant and increasing, that he 
was barely able to walk across the room. He says 
that three days before, while going as" far as 
"Bird Cage Walk," he accidentally met Irwin, 
Lord Suffield's financial agent, and he relieved 
Deane's extreme want; Wilkinson had also as- 
sisted him with money. His friend Bancroft 
would gladly help him were it possible, but he was 
involved in vexatious lawsuits. 

The language is realistic and touching; he 
writes : 

I get but little rest at night, for my coughing is 
almost incessant, and my night-sweats, which but 



246 Silas Deane 

lately afflicted me, are profuse, so that I have scarcely 
a thread of my linen dry in the morning. My appetite 
is gone ; I have not eaten anything solid for more than 
ten days. Fruit, a poached egg beat up in milk, warm 
from the cow, with sugar, nutmeg, and some spirit in it, 
have been my sole nourishment, nor has my stomach 
at all times been able to bear even these ; and I have 
frequently cold and aguish times of shivering. Ex- 
cuse me, my lord, for being thus particular. I wish 
to lay my case simply and without exaggeration or 
coloring before you, that you may judge if I am obsti- 
nate in declining, I may say in refusing, to go on ship- 
board under these circumstances, and with a mind 
distracted with reflections on the past, the present, and 
the probable future. 

In a word I may be carried on board, where want 
of fruit, of milk, of vegetables, — in a word, of proper 
attention, and of ever3^thing proper for a sick person, — 
with heat and calms on the passage, and violent 
equinoctial gales on the coast, which are almost 
certain at this season; these, which I do not color 
too highly, must cut short my voyage and prevent my 
ever landing in America, although the ship may go 
safe, and to persons in health it may be supportable. 

But my physician is in favor of a voyage. My 
lord, when a physician has a patient whose disorder 
baffles him, he recommends to him a short voyage 
to sea or the watering places ; or in short anywhere to 
get him out of the way, and off his hands. I have 
been to sea enough to know what it is in general, and 
how it affects me, even when in full health and with a 
mind at ease. I rely more on my friend Bancroft's 
opinion than on that of almost any physician. He 
knows my habits and temper, he has given up all 



Fresh Hopes Die Away 247 

thoughts of my embarking in my present state, and 
until I can recover some degree of strength propor- 
tionate to the voyage. 

Irwin does not think himself authorized to assist 
me out of your lordship's bounty in any way but in 
procuring passage to America. My wish is to remove 
to some healthy spot in the country for a few weeks, 
until I get stronger, and able to bear the fatigue of the 
voyage. 

Deane had written to his brother to lend him a 
little money by which he hoped to go into the 
coimtry , and he adds to Lord Suffield : 

I may hear from my brother ; but if there is no alter- 
native left me but to embark in my present situation, 
or to suffer the last extremity here, my case is indeed 
a hard one. I have said perhaps too much, and I hope 
your lordship will not take it amiss when you reflect 
on my present distresses both of body and mind. 
Those of the former have been hard indeed, and those 
of the latter are such as I cannot describe ; they push 
me at times to the verge of absolute distraction. 

It is evident that Deane obtained help some- 
where, for ten days after the letter to Lord Suffield, 
Edward Bancroft wrote to J. T. Townsend that 
he had procured the original drafts of Deane' s 
observations on the canal, and inclosed them, 
and he adds that it was Deane's intention to go 
to Champlain that summer, if his observations 
were honored with Lord Sydney's approval. The 



248 Silas Deane 

good doctor says: ''I fear his health will not 
allow his venturing this season. He is going a 
little way out of town. " 

On August 10, 1778, Deane wrote his brother 
Barnabas in Hartford that he had been confined 
to his chamber in London most of the time since 
December by complications occasioned in part and 
largely increased by circumstances which at times 
almost unhinged his mind. He said that the 
assistance of a few friends had kept him from per- 
ishing, and that for a great part of the time he had 
scarcely been able to recollect one day what had 
passed on the preceding, and while in that state 
he had been plundered of clothes and valuable 
papers; that his health was much improved and 
that he should hope soon to undertake something 
for his future support, so that he would not be 
compelled to burden his friends. 

His illness had seemed to destroy all prospects of 
business, and he did not expect it to return. His 
losses through his brother Simeon and the bank- 
ruptcy of M. Chaumont had ruined him beyond 
recovery; he nerved himself a little to say: ''I 
cannot bear to go farther in the retrospect; I will 
try to look forward." 

Then comes another shadow across the page, as 
he says: 



Fresh Hopes Die Away 249 

The account of my son distresses me extremely. 
Should he be mad enough to come over here, I see 
nothing to prevent his absolutely perishing from 
want, as I am supported by the kindness, or I may 
say charity, of friends, which I have no right to expect 
the continuance of to myself, much less that it 
should be extended to him. 



His son did not return to England, and Lord 
Dorchester and Lord Sydney gave their influence 
in favor of the canal, and, in the autumn of 1788, 
something of promise began to open, and the dis- 
couraged man could write, ''This is on the whole 
the most promising object before me. " 

Then came the gloom, to which he was accus- 
tomed, as he says: "But, alas, without the enjoy- 
ment of health, or the means for even a present sub- 
sistence, what can I depend on ? What can I do ? " 

On November 10, 1788, in a letter to his brother 
Barnabas, he said he had not written over three 
letters in twelve months, and that for a still longer 
period his health and distress of mind had beggared 
description, and without the least relief. A year 
before, he had caught a violent cold, which fell 
on his limbs which became palsied, so that he 
could scarcely help himself, but he had so far 
recovered that he hoped in the spring to set sail 
for America. 



25a Silas Deane 

The past was still haunting him, as he writes: 
"I almost wish I could annihilate the power of 
recollection; but if past errors and misfortunes 
were to make us wise in the future, I ought to be 
one of the wisest of men for the rest of my life. " 

He says that previous to his illness he had 
formed a plan for going into business in England, 
but that prospect was gone, and the Champlain 
canal was his only hope. ''To this," he writes, 
"my whole attention is turned at present, 'but 
the destruction of the poor is their poverty. ' " 

The winter was cold, the severest in fifty years, 
Deane' s health delicate, the political situation in 
England doubtful, but the spring brought new 
hope, and while there was delay, plans slowly 
matured, and the exile gladly turned his eyes 
toward America. 

A melancholy interest gathers around the fact 
that on June 25, 1789, Deane wrote three letters 
to prominent Americans, making a last plea for 
justice at the hands of Congress. 

He wrote Jeremiah Wadsworth that he had 
long since ceased to expect the balance due him; 
but he desired that it might be fully known for the 
satisfaction of the public, and especially of his 
friends and family, whether or not he merited the 
treatment he had met or any part of it. 



Fresh Hopes Die Away 251 

He wrote to George Washington that for more 
than ten years he had sought the settlement of 
his accounts, but with the new system of govern- 
ment he was making one more appeal. He adds: 
"Though reduced to the extremes of poverty and 
to an infirm and precarious state of health by what 
I have suffered, I still regard the past as of little 
consequence if I can obtain what I have long 
requested. " 

And to his honored friend, John Jay, after a 
long delay, Deane wrote, that he was encouraged 
to send him one more letter because he heard that 
Jay had inquired for him and expressed a wish for 
his return. Deane says: 

This leads me to hope that the surmises and 
suggestions professed against me, having never in the 
remotest degree been substantiated, may be dissi- 
pated, and that any error in judgment, which is the 
utmost any one can charge me with, is fully expiated 
by what I have suffered. 

After speaking of the charge of default, which 
for ten years he had tried to bring to trial, he 
urges the jurist to use his influence with the new 
administration to have the case taken up and 
decided; not because Deane expected any pe- 
cuniary return, but for the sake of his family, and 



^52 Silas Deane 

especially of his son, he wished to have the cloud 
removed from his name. 

, On June 29, 1789, Deane wrote William S. 
Johnson urging the plea, the valedictory appeal 
near the close of the years of misery. He says: 

If I have in any instance betrayed, or been un- 
faithful in, the trust reposed in me by my country, let 
it be made to appear. Justice to the public calls for it 
as well as to the individual. I once more present my 
case before the tribunal of my country for a fair and 
full examination. I have been so long habituated to 
poverty, that I can bear it, however reluctantly, but 
Injustice to my character is unsupportable. 

By the generosity of a friend in Boston, it was ar- 
ranged that Deane should bid good-by to the scenes 
of isolation and misery in England and sail for 
America in the Boston packet with Captain Davis. 

On Tuesday, September 22, 1789, Deane drove 
as far as Gravesend with the captain, and the two 
spent the night there ; in the morning they drove to 
Deal and embarked, and the voyage began. At ten 
o'clock, while walking the quarter-deck with the 
captain, Deane said he did not feel well; the com- 
plaint increasing, he was taken to the cabin, where 
he almost immediately became speechless, and 
continued so until his death, which occurred at 
two in the afternoon. 



Fresh Hopes Die Away ^ 253 

The death was probably due to a complication 
of disorders, the climax of a long period of illness 
and weakness, and the vessel returned at once to 
Deal for the burial of the disappointed man. The 
record of interment, which is dated September 26, 
1789, is as follows: 

Silas Deane Esquire. He was Deputy of the State 
of Connecticut to the first and second American Con- 
gress; a Minister Plenipotentiary from the United 
States of America to the Court of France in 1777, 
and 1778, died in the Downs on his passage from 
London to America. Register of Burials for the 
Parish of Deal. 

There is no gravestone but the interment is be- 
lieved to have been in the St. George's Church- 
yard. 

Thus ended Deane's long course of trial and mis- 
fortune, as he was setting out upon an expedition 
which gave promise of financial profit and of a 
renewal in some degree of the prosperity which 
his superior business capacity and address had won 
for him in the earlier years. "Time, the nurse, 
and breeder of all good, " brought him little relief. 

He died at the age of fifty-two; the Boston 
packet went on without him, leaving Silas Deane, 
disappointed for the last time. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE VINDICATION 

\ Y 7E are now far enough removed from the 
stormy scenes of prejudice and animosity, 
in which Deane's lot was cast, to judge cahnly and 
impartially the career and the character, and 
pronounce an opinion which may have some 
approach to fairness. 

Soon after his death on the merchant ship a few 
miles from Deal, there appeared in The Gentle- 
man's Magazine, the following notice: 

Died in the Downs, September 23, on board the 
Boston packet, in his fifty-third year, after four hours' 
illness, Silas Deane, a native of Groton, Conn., member 
of the first and second Congresses, distinguished for 
his literary merits, mercantile knowledge, policy, and 
great zeal for liberty, and sequently, in 1776, ap- 
pointed Ambassador by Congress to the Court of 
France. 

Soon after his arrival at Paris he proved his ability 
by convincing the Court of France that their interest 
would be promoted by giving supplies to the American 
revolt. He purchased nearly half a million livres' 
worth, depending on promises; recalled, he refused 

254 



Vindication 255 

all kinds of payment, because not clear of suspicion of 
being not friendly to the independence of America. 

This political maneuver and Congressional mode 
of discharging fair and honest debts by suspicions and 
accusations compelled Mr. Deane to leave France 
on a sudden, and finally take refuge in England, 
where he received generous and friendly support, 
while his eminent services and just demands on Con- 
gress were disregarded by his fellow-patriots in France. 

Thus lived and died his excellency Silas Deane, 
whose name is rendered immortal in the calender of 
policy by having ruined himself and family, and de- 
ranged France ar d America, with the charming words. 
Liberty, Constitution, and Rights. 

The epicedium of Mr. Deane may be this: He was 
second to very few in knowledge, plans, designs, and 
execution ; deficient only in placing confidence in his 
compatriots, and doing them service, before he had 
got his compensation, of which no well-bred politician 
was ever guilty. 

Newspapers in England and America celebrated 
Deane's passage from a world 

Of struggle, and temptation, and retreat, 

with scarcely a tender thought, though they said 
that he was an illustration of the most remark- 
able versatility of fortune which has occurred 
perhaps within the present century ; that he lived 
in great affluence at the Court of France, and 
was presented by Louis XVI. with his picture 



256 Silas Deane 

set with brilliants, as a mark of respect on 
account of his integrity and ability; but that 
the charge of embezzlement led to his exile in 
Holland, where his situation was little better 
than starving, and afterward to life in England, 
where he would have died of want, had not a 
gentleman of fashion been an eye-witness that 
he not only wanted food, but a bed to lie on ; that 
a collection of about seventy pounds was made 
for him. So reduced was he, that though he was 
supposed to have embezzled upwards of a hundred 
thousand pounds, he practically refuted the ma- 
levolence of his enemies by experiencing all the 
horrors of the most abject poverty, dying on ship- 
board on his way to America— his last resort. The 
finishing touch of the malice and falseness of 
Deane's enemies was given in an article which was 
published in London the next year after his death. 
It was entitled, ''Theodosius, or a Solemn Ad- 
monition to Protestant Dissenters." The author 
is supposed to have been the Reverend Philip 
Withers. 

The narrative of this highly imaginative writer 
begins with these words: "The last time I saw 
Mr. Silas Deane he was on a bed of sickness and 
death ; he sent for me. " Then the author proceeds 
to relate a conversation which he says passed 



Vindication 257 

between himself and Deane in which the latter is 
made to ' ' deny the existence of the Deity. ' ' Being 
asked to "name the wretch" who had infused into 
his mind "such horrid blasphemies, " he is said to 
have named Dr. Priestly: and to have added, 
"Yes, Dr. Priestly was my instructor, my savior, 
and my God." 

Why this writer, whom we refrain from char- 
acterizing, did not consult Priestly before publish- 
ing a statement so damaging in that age, can be as 
easily explained as can many other things said 
about Deane while he was alive. 

The refutation is complete. The alleged dying 
atheist, according to the written account of Cap- 
tain Davis, after eating a hearty breakfast with him 
at Gravesend, went on shipboard with the captain, 
and the vessel started immediately; about ten 
o'clock he became suddenly ill, was carried to the 
cabin, and there for the first and only time was 
laid upon his deathbed, on the bed on which he 
died, and there, almost immediately, he became 
speechless, and continued so until his death, which 
occurred about two o'clock, four hours later. 
The captain mentioned several persons who were 
with Deane while on his deathbed, all of whom 
appear to have belonged to the ship. None of 

them were able to comprehend any of the in- 
17 



258 Silas Deane 

articulate sounds when the dying man attempted 
to speak. 

Dr. Bancroft declares that this post-mortem 
slander was absolutely false. He wrote: " I never 
heard him intimate, much less profess, any dis- 
belief in the Deity. On the contrary, I believe 
on very good grounds that his religious sentiments 
were exactly the same as those he had avowed 
in France to several of his friends. " 

We pass now from that trying, feverish period 
through the calmer years to see what has been 
the judgment of the country upon Silas Deane. 
We find abundant illustration of that quality in 
human nature of which Shakespeare spoke when 
he wrote: 

Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues 
We write in water. 

It is the fashion of some writers on the men 
and events of the Revolution to speak disparag- 
ingly of Deane. All admit his ability within 
certain limits and a measure of success in his mis- 
sion to France, but some give evidence of im- 
perfect knowledge of the man's life and work, and 
in some instances reveal an apparent willingness 
to condemn him on hearsay. 

Evidently these writers have not read the 



Vindication 259 

testimony of Franklin, who was intimately as- 
sociated with him in Paris, as to his integrity, 
energy, and success; or that of Beaumarchais to 
Deane's devotion and address which made his 
work indispensable ; or that of the austere, honest, 
if sometimes crabbed, John Adams, Deane's suc- 
cessor as Commissioner, who would as soon falsify 
as omit to read his Bible every morning, who 
wrote in his immortal Diary in 1778: "Mr. Deane 
lived expensively and seems not to have had much 
order in his business, public or private; but he 
was active, diligent, subtle, and successful, having 
accomplished the great purpose of his mission to 
advantage." 

Surely the calm, judicial intelligence of John 
Jay ought to have some weight in a matter of 
this kind. Jay wrote Deane, March 28, 1781: 

You merit the thanks, not the reproaches, of your 
country. I believe you innocent of the malversations 
imputed to you, and I feel for you the sympathy which 
such an opinion must create in every honest mind. In 
this enlightened age, when the noise of passion and 
party shall have subsided, the voice of truth will be 
heard and attended to. 

The opinion of Robert Morris should not be 
overlooked. He wrote in 1781 to Deane that his 
character had been exceedingly traduced, and he 



26o Silas Deane 

longed to see it placed "in that respectable and 
Tneritorious point of view which it deserves.'* 

Again, and in 1785, he wrote: "From the hand 
of time alone can you expect that the impression 
against you will be obliterated; but in the course 
of things a time will come when people will hear 
and believe." 

The statement of so honest and careful a man 
as Franklin, given when Deane was recalled in 
1778, should have decided weight. He said: 

I have no doubt that he will be able clearly to justify 
himself, but having lived intimately with him more 
than fifteen months, the greatest part of the time in 
the same house, and a constant witness of his public 
conduct, I cannot avoid giving this testimony, though 
unasked, that I esteem him a faithful, active, and 
earnest minister, who, to my knowledge, has done in 
various ways great and important services to his 
country, whose interests I wish may always by every 
one in her employ be as much and as efficiently 
promoted. 

Some of these statements have been given on 
earlier pages, but they belong here also in the sum 
of the testimony, of which most of the writers on 
the period under consideration seem ignorant. 

They are apparently ignorant also of the action 
of Congress, fifty-three years after Deane 's death, 
by which the foolish rumor of embezzlement was 



Vindication 261 

exploded, and his reputed claims for justice 
acknowledged. 

This calls for a description of the memorial of 
the heirs of Deane, which was presented to Con- 
gress, January 10, 1835, a^nd which led to the 
official vindication. 

We have spoken of Deane's son Jesse, who was 
with his father in Europe and returned to America 
in 1783. He died in 1830, leaving a daughter 
Philura, who married Horatio Alden, and five 
years after the death of Jesse Deane, Mr. and Mrs. 
Alden presented to Congress a memorial which 
reviewed the case from the time of Deane 's ap- 
pointment until his death, calling to mind that his 
reputation, in the judgment of Congress, was high, 
from the fact that, in 177,5, he was solely and ex- 
clusively employed by the Marine Committee to 
equip and fit out a large naval force, and that he 
may be called the "Father of the Revolution 
Marine." 

The memorial goes on to explain that his mission 
to France for military supplies was successful; 
that in March, 1777, he was recalled "with all 
possible dispatch," since "it is of the greatest 
importance that Congress at this critical juncture 
be well informed of the state of affairs in Europe, " 
with no reference to his accounts, which were de- 



262 Silas Deane 

manded on the two audiences he had with Con- 
gress, — the only ones in fourteen months, though 
he wrote repeatedly for an opportunity to state his 
case. 

Assured of the appointment of an auditor by 
Congress, Deane returned to France, and for more 
than a year was engaged with a clerk, at heavy 
expense. Joshua Johnson declined to act as 
auditor because of the conditions imposed, and 
for two years after Deane 's dismission there was 
no auditor. At length Barclay was appointed, 
but his instructions did not cover Deane' s case. 

After the publication of the nine private letters 
in the Royal Gazette Deane was proscribed at 
home and abroad. An exile in Ghent for a year 
and a half, he lived in cheap lodgings, seeing only 
those he could not avoid. 

On May 22, 1782, Congress appointed a com- 
missioner to settle all accounts. Not till then did 
Barclay feel authorized to act on Deane's case, and 
even then he could not close it. 

In 1783, a committee consisting of Arthur Lee, 
McHenry, and Gerry, was appointed to investi- 
gate Deane's claims. This committee recom- 
mended that he be allowed his expenses from 
March, 1776, to January 4, 1778, and salary as 
commissioner, also allowance of commissions of 



Vindication 263 

five per cent, to the time of his appointment as 
ambassador. 

Thus the right of Deane was fairly and fully 
admitted. Probably this report never came to his 
attention, and there is no evidence that Congress 
took action on this report. In the correspondence 
that followed between Deane and Barclay it was 
made clear that all questionable items must be 
referred to the immediate decision of Congress, 
which was a practical denial of justice, and in- 
definite postponement of the decision. 

On September 30, 1 784, Barclay sent the accounts 
to Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance, who 
referred them to the president of Congress, but no 
action was taken. For nearly six years Deane 
had sought settlement : he was poor, his credit as 
a merchant ruined, he was driven to resort to 
friends in a manner his proud spirit disdained, but 
he was determined never to return to his country 
till his accounts were settled. Denounced and 
proscribed, his mental energies gave way, and from 
1784 he gave up all hope of settlement. 

Four months before his death an effort was 
made by the government to get possession of 
Deane's account and letter book, to the distress of 
the owner. 

Congress had voted a meager allowance to 



264 Silas Deane 

Deane, which was dedined as wholly inadequate 
and unfair; and though Congress made good to 
Arthur Lee the loss of nearly ten thousand dollars, 
due to depreciation of currency, no such offer was 
made to Deane. 

The memorial states that Franklin's testimony 
of December 18, 1783, to Deane's integrity was in- 
valuable, and that when Robert Morris closed his 
official relations to the public treasury he spoke 
of the balances due Deane and a few others, saying : 

It is much lamented that these are not paid. As 
to Mr. Deane, he stands in such peculiar circumstances 
that it would be odious to say anything in favor of 
his claims, if the citizens of America were governed 
by passion and caprice, instead of reason and re- 
flection. But they know that whatever may have 
been his services and sufferings, or whatever may be 
his follies and faults, neither can affect the present 
question. His claim of justice is not mended by his 
merits, nor curtailed by his crime. Whether he is 
criminal or innocent must be decided on hereafter by 
that unerring tribunal from which there is no appeal. 
But even admitting his guilt, it would be folly to 
justify it by withholding his due. 

The committees of Senate and House to which 
this memorial was referred, after several years of 
investigation, reported favorably, and, in 1842, 
Congress appropriated thirty-seven thousand dol- 



Vindication 265 

lars to Deane*s heirs, on the ground that the former 
audit made when Arthur Lee was Commissioner 
of Accounts was ''ex parte, erroneous, and a gross 
injustice to Silas Deane. " 

Thus, more than half a century after the death 
of Deane, the action of Congress, which Deane 
vainly sought for years, was taken, a part of 
the money due him was paid his heirs, and that 
which he desired more earnestly than the money, 
the vindication from the charge of embezzlement, 
accomplished. 

The question now arises, what is the verdict 
of history as to the work and character of Deane. 
There can be no question about the ability, effi- 
ciency, and energy of the man. We have ample 
testimony to his effectiveness. He was undoubt- 
edly a man who stands in the front rank of the 
leaders of the Revolution, and had it not been 
for the malicious disparagement of Arthur Lee, he 
would stand to-day with Franklin, Morris, and 
Jay. 

After an interval of one hundred and thirty years 
it is time to recognize his great services, and ac- 
knowledge the priceless debt the Republic owes 
Deane for his inestimable work for the insurgents 
struggling for independence. 

The other question, that of character, is more 



266 Silas Deane 

difficult, and different minds will judge differently 
the "intercepted letters. " 

We must set aside as altogether erroneous the 
notion that Deane was guilty of treason. He did 
become discouraged, and he wrote some private 
letters when cast down, and at a time when news 
from America was peculiarly discouraging. He 
failed of that grace 

That can translate the stubbornness of fortune 
Into so quiet and so sweet a style, 

as to be calm and wise amid trials and disasters. 
But Silas Deane was never a traitor. There is not 
the slightest evidence that he was ever on familiar 
terms with General Arnold while in London, or 
that he was in the pay of the British Ministry. 
Those who made the charges were either Deane 's 
deadly enemies or men reckless with facts. 

Those nine letters, written under a fearful strain 
of disappointment, poverty, neglect, and calumny, 

' were published by Tories who knew how to make 
the most of them. Deane says they changed them 
to suit their purpose. 

We wish he had not written those letters. We 
have done some things almost as foolish, but our 
insignificance has usually shielded us from dis- 

/ grace, and we have had opportunity to profit by 



Vindication 267 

our blunders. Less happy was Deane; his mis- 
take was caught up greedily by his enemies and 
used to ornament and advertise the lies they had 
industriously circulated. We cannot conceive 
of Olympian men like Washington or Franklin 
writing such letters, but the Olympians are in a 
select and lonely class. We wish some things 
could be erased from the biographies of Moses, 
David, Elijah, Luther, and Garfield. We would 
rather not be judged by things said and done when 
we were down-hearted; and no one with any 
knowledge of human nature, or any pretense to 
justice, would set aside the valuable and devoted 
service of years, and blot with infamy an entire 
life, because a man, hounded and conspired against, 
in a moment of weakness lost his poise, and allowed 
his pen to describe the blur and confusion engen- 
dered by a mind almost distraught by suffering 
and disaster. 

It requires no special pleading to make out a 
case for Deane. For years he was in a prison, 
whose walls were a concrete of massive and deter- 
mined conspiracy. Brave men as he havp grown 
discouraged under conditions trying as his. Elijah 
flung himself upon the ground and longed for death ; 
John the Baptist in the prison of Machasrus ques- 
tioned whether his message was a mistake ; Savona- 



268 Silas Deane 

rola dared to face angry councils, but he wavered 
in the prison-cell of Florence; Jerome of Prague 
in the dungeon of Constance recanted his faith, 
then gathered courage and died a martyr; even 
Luther was agitated by fantasies of incipient 
madness in the castle of Wartburg, and we gladly 
43hrow a veil over the serious blunders of his later 
life. 

^ There were many who were depressed over the 
coi;idition of the country, and even after York- 
town regretted the Revolution, but they were 
-more fortunate than Deane. There is a letter of 
Israel Putnam, written after the war, in which this 
man, whose patriotism and sincerity no one ques- 
tions, says that, in view of the wretched condition 
of business and finance, and the many evils rising 
on all sides, he longed for the days when the colo- 
nies were under British rule, and if he could have 
looked forward, he would not have entered the 
war. 

Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, 
ruined himself and many others, and spent months 
in a debtor's prison; yet we do not forget his 
eminent services for his country. 

Years of suffering from a malignity, and a con- 
spiracy as pitiless as determined, wrought in 
Deane 's mind despair for a country whose Con- 



Vindication 269 

gress could ignore plain justice in dealing with 
him. The iron hand of desperation fell heavily 
on a nature ungifted with dauntless hopefulness. 

It is not easy for us in the security and wealth 
of prosperous years to imagine the condition 
of affairs when Deane wrote the fatal letters. 
America seemed at the lowest ebb, politically, 
financially, and in the army, to the lonely, home- 
sick man, walking the streets of Paris, brooding in 
his dreary lodgings, listening to dismal stories, 
wafted across the sea, of faction, repudiation, and 
mutinous soldiers ; pondering his own wrongs, hav- 
ing long breathed the atmosphere of suspicion, of 
accusation, covert and pronounced; determined 
not to return to the hostility of a country so 
dominated by his enemies, where just and friendly 
men were perplexed by the stories ingeniously 
scattered by his shrewd foes; unable to go into 
business in Paris. It is not strange in conditions 
like these that Deane should have made a serious 
mistake. 

Simple humanity requires us to bring the 
quality of mercy to our judgment of a man who 
for four years and a half had endured the de- 
pressing stress of suffering and disappointment, 
the continued assaults of malice, the unjust delays, 
the temptations of a disposition naturally de- 



270 Silas Deane 

ficient in buoyant optimism, the sure approach 
of poverty dreaded by a spirited man, the mental 
anarchy occasioned by worry, insomnia, repeated 
aXtatks of misfortune, and heart-sickening dis- 
appointments. 

It is not strange that Deane should take a 
gloomy view of the future of his country in that 
critical summer of ifSi — dark enough to Washing- 
Jon as we know by history; a nightmare of a 
summer to a man like Deane, tortured by a sense 
of personal wrongs, and alarmed at the thought 
of the dismal future into which his cotmtry seemed 
to be plunging. 

It is not strange that under such conditions 
Deane should open his heart to a few friends in 
letters strictly private, in which he asked if some 
method might not be discovered to stop the 
fearful war, while it could be done with honor. 

Think of the career of this man, — the early 
zeal, devotion, and achievements; the mission to 
France and its success ; the hostility of powerful 
leaders; the paralysis of Congress; the undertow 
of disparagement; the studied neglect; the var- 
nished falseness; encroaching, overwhelming pov- 
erty; the newspaper lies; hopes blossoming then 
fading; the death of his wife and breaking up of 
his home; the ill-health of his son; the stiff fight 



Vindication 271 

to pay bills and keep up courage; illness and death 
under the shadow and burden; the passing away 
of the tortured Commissioner from the cabin of the 
packet, his last hope slipping through his nerveless 
and trembling fingers, as his eyes, wearied with 
gazing across the waters toward Congress, glaze 
in death. 

We, who look through the steadying years to 
that scene of struggle, of pathetic endeavor, of 
gathering sorrows, of threating ruin, see an able 
and honest man, a true patriot, a skillful and 
effective executive, whose deeds deserve the 
gratitude of the Republic; whose mistakes in a 
world like this, made under he^avy strain, in the 
deep gloom that just preceded the dawn, ought 
not to overwhelm with dire condemnation a man 
who on the whole was true to his country. , 



INDEX 



Adams, John, on committee 
to inquire about ore, 30; 
Journal of, quoted, 31, 154; 
proposal of, 40; writes, of 
Franklin, 96; replaces Deane, 
137 ; States Rights party, 142 ; 
Holland refuses, 177; away 
from Congress, 188; 31, 146, 

259 

Adams, Samuel, on committee 
to send letter to Canada, 30; 
a member of Committee of 
Ways and Means, 30; Lee 
writes to, 98, 131; States 
Rights party, 142; 146, 156 

Albany, the British in, 105; 2 

Alden, Horatio, marries Phi- 
lura Deane, 261 

Allen, Col. Ethan, captures 
Fort Ticonteroga, 28 

America, France lends money 
to, 60; Steuben goes to, 84; 
Deane returns to, 130; hard 
times in, 142; Deane leaves, 
158; Deane a martyr to, 162; 
Deane's remarks about, 174; 
Deane writes friends in, 182; 
Deane's fears for, 188 ff.; 
weakness of, 190; fortunes 
of, 193; French army in, 195; 
Deane considered enemy of, 
198; the treaty with, 226; 
Deane hopes to go to, 249; 
Deane starts for, 252; news- 
papers in, 255 

American Revolution, New Ma- 
terials on the, by Durand, 
referred to, 56 

Amphitrite, The, carries arms, 
90; returns to port, 1 00; 



arrives at Portsmouth, loi; 

arrest of captain of, 106; 82, 

226 
Arnold, Benedict, interview 

with Parsons, 28; Deane's 

name coupled with, 180; 

calls on Deane, 217; repulsed 

by Deane, 217; 195, 203, 266 
Aslop, 236 
Austin, J. L., in France, 106; 

sails for France, no 

Bancroft, Edward, Deane 
writes to, 197, 208; writes 
of Deane, 202; writes Town- 
send, 247; defends Deane, 
258; 48, 113, 245 

Barbary, trade with, 11 

Barcelona, handkerchiefs from, 
10 

Barclay, Thomas, Deane hears 
from, 203; Deane writes, 
221; 207, 225, 234, 261, 263 

Bath, 231 

Bayard, Mr., 23 

Bay Colony, opposition to 
Stamp Act in, 14 

Beaumarchais, Caron de, writes 
of Deane, 44; head of Rode- 
rique & Co., 53; writes Ver- 
gennes, 53; birth of, 54; 
Controller of the Pantry, 54; 
marriage of, 54; enthusiastic 
in the cause of America, 56; 
writes Lee, 56; writes Louis 
XVI, 58; again writes Louis, 
59; as agent for colonies, 60; 
forms his company, 6 1 ; Deane 
sent to, 61; Deane writes of, 
61; writes Committee of 



273 



274 



Index 



Beaumarchais, Caron de {Con.) 
Congress, 62; writes of plans 
to King, 62; receives no re- 
ceipt for supplies, 64; begs 
Congress for payments, 67; 
writes his agent, 67; Jay 
writes to, 69; money gives 
out, 70; writes Congress of 
ingratitude, 71 ; flees to Ham- 
burg, 71; Congress finally 
settles debt of, 72; Deane 
writes Congress of, 72; 
Deane does business with, 
73; Deane asks for supplies 
from, 74, 75; writes to Deane 
75; Deane writes of, 87; 
supplies furnished by, 91; 
Vergennes criticizes, 100; 
guest of the Commissioners, 
III; and Lee, 115; writes 
Deane's praises, 125; sym- 
pathizes with Deane, 127; 
letter to Congress, 128; 
letter of, 135; writes of 
Deane, 171; writes Deane, 
1 78 ; writes of Deane to Mor- 
ris, 205; Deane writes, 219; 
Deane quotes, 226; Deane 
writes, 232; 65, loi, 116, 
119, 121, 134*259 

Belden, Capt., in the General 
Assembly, 18 

Berlin, Lee seeks help from, 
102; Court of, 131, 145 

Bermudas, Deane sails by way 
of»43 

"Bird Cage Walk," 245 

Bilboa, trade with, 11 

Birmingham, Deane in, 234 

Bordeaux, 87; 119, 236 

Boston, coach from New York 
to, 5; sympathy for, 18 ; dele- 
gates from, 23; Perch sails 
from, no; Port Bill, 27; 
38 

Boston packet, Deane to sail 
in, 252 

Boulogne, 64 

Bourbon, House of, Deane 
writes of, 204 



Brandy wine, the defeat of, 105 
Brazil, tobacco of, 185 
British Ministry, Deane said 

to be in pay of, 200; 20, 231, 

266 
British West Indies, 186 
Broglie, Comte de, see De 

Broglie 
Brussels, 198 
Buckle, referred to, 92 
Buckley, Jonathan, 8 
Bulkley, Capt. John, runs 

cattle ship, 1 1 
Burgesses, House of, 19, 27 
Burgoyne, surrender of, 39; 

surrender at Saratoga of, 90; 

news of surrender of , 1 1 o ; 9 1 , 

103, 105, 130, 226 
Burke, 117 

Cambridge, camp at, 28 
Canada, committee to send 

letter to, 30; 91, 186 
Canary Islands, slave markets 

in, 4 
Caribbean Islands, cattle ship 

run to, II 
Carmichael, William, accuses 

Deane, 136; Nicholson writes, 

156; 156, 173, 177 
Caron, father of Beaumar- 

chais, 54 
Cassandra, 164, 183, 194 
Cato, 94 
Chambly, 244 
Champlain, Lake, Deane's 

plan for, 244; Deane's plans 

to go to, 247; 250 
Charleston, blacks for, 5 
Charybdis, 189 
Chastellux, confers with De 

Grasse, 193 
Chaumont, Le Ray de, Frank- 
lin visits, 95; Deane writes 

to, 210; 216, 248 
Chesapeake, 227 
Chester, Leonard, owner of a 

"Neager Maide," 4; 5 
Chester, Col., 16 
Chester, Captain, 27 



Index 



275 



Choiseul, Due de, Prime Min- 
ister, 57 

Clinton, Sir Henry, Lord North 
to, 201 

Clinton, Gen., 229 

Collier Swamp, a part of the 
town of Wethersfield, 7 

Commerce, Deane's fears for 
185 ff.; Deane's ideas about, 

^33 . . 

Commissioners, appointment 
of three, 92; call on Ver- 
gennes, 100; debts of the, 
104; go on with contracts, 
105; no word from the Court 
to, 105; sign treaty, 106, 107; 
object of, 108; presented to 
Louis XVI, 113; call on 
Madame Lafayette, 114; 
dine with Vergennes, 114; 
strife among, 149; 112 

Congress, Deane sent to first, 
18; held in Philadelphia, 20; 
Deane sets forth for, 21; 
the first, meets, 27; doings of 
the first, 28; the second, 28; 
Committee of, Beaumar- 
chais writes, 62; perplexed 
by Lee's lies, 65; writes to 
Vergennes, 68; Deane writes 
to, 70; Committee of, Deane 
writes to, 74; Lee's corre- 
spondence with, 115; Deane 
reports to, 133; Deane at- 
tends, 135; Deane writes to, 
139; hard up for money, 142; 
for and against Deane, 144; 
Deane v/rites, 155; dis- 
charges Deane, 157; Deane 
writes, 158; hostility to 
Deane of, 159; ruins credit 
in Europe, 166; Deane 
writes to, 175; Deane writes 
of, 183; Deane speaks of. 188; 
reduces currency, 189; hos- 
tility of, 229; Lee writes to, 
241 ; no justice for Deane in, 
242; Deane's last plea to, 
250; Deane's heirs' memorial 
to, 261 ; finally settles Deane's 



case, 262; pays debt to 
Deane's heirs, 264; 35, 147, 
161, 165, 170, 179, 187, 222, 
224, 227, 228, 238, 264 

Connecticut, Oldham ascends 
the, I ; tries to stop impor- 
tation, 16; merchants of, 
against Newport, 18; Horse 
Guard of, 91; hostilities of 
Pennsylvania and, 190; 
Deane's advice to, 215; 26 

Connecticut Assembly, votes 
a committee of nine, 19 

Connecticut Courant, The, 
weekly paper, 5 

Connecticut Gazette, item from, 
109 

Connecticut, Governor of, com- 
plains to British Secretary, 
20 

Controller of the Pantry of the 
King's Household, 54 

Constance, Dungeon of, re- 
ferred to, 268 

Constitution of United States, 

14 

Comwallis, surrender of, 39; 
180, 193, 229 

Correspondence, Committee of, 
founding of, 19; Deane's 
work on, 21; Deane writes 
to, 50 

Cotton, reaction against, 13 

Coudray, M. de, furious at 
Beaumarchais, 66; Deane 
writes of, 74; Deane signs 
agreement with, 76; a great 
disappointment to Deane, 77 ; 
makes trouble in America, 
77;, death of, 78; 75, 91 

Creasy, referred to, no 

Crown Point, 2, 105 

Cuba, tobacco of, 185 

Dartmouth, Earl of, British 
Secretary of State, 20 

Dartmouth, Lord, 99 

Davis, Capt., Deane to sail 
with, 252; tells of Deane's 
death, 257 



276 



Index 



David, referred to, 267 

De Broglie, Comte, Deane 
writes of, 78, 79; De Kalb 
writes to, 83; 83, 91 

D'Estaing, 134, 156, 158, 161 

De Grasse, Admiral, French 
fleet in command of, 39; on 
way to America, 180; at 
Yorktown, 191; 193, 228 

De Kalb, pleads for De Bro- 
glie, 79; goes to America, 82; 
embarks with Lafayette, 83; 
Baron, Deane speaks of, 88 ; 

91. 134 

De Lomenie, referred to, 66; 
63, 107 

De Rochambeau, Count, Mor- 
ris borrows from, 40 

De Segur, Comte, referred to, 

94 
Deal, Deane 's grave in, 181; 

254 

Deane, Barnabas, letters to, 
from Silas, 142, 164, 173, 
179, 180, 194, 248, 249; 
Silas writes of illness to, 193; 
writes Jacob Sebor, 196; 
Silas writes of intercepted 
letters to, 208; Silas writes 
of son to, 216; Silas has to 
beg of, 242 

Deane, Elizabeth, death of, 
109 

Deane, Jesse, birth of, 3; takes 
leave of his father, 42 ; father 
writes of, 166; illness of, 216; 
messenger for his father, 
221; death of, 261 

Deane, Philura, granddaughter 
of Silas, 261 

Deane, Silas, starts business 
in Wethersfield, 2; birth and 
early life of, 3; marriage of. 
3; becomes well known, 3; 
birth of only child of, 3; 
death of wife and remarriage 
of, 3; a prominent church- 
man, 5; early letters of, 6; 
food in time of, 10; the store 
of, 10; interest in political 



events, 14; on committee to 
stop importation of goods, 
17 ; signs circular, 18 ; contrib- 
utes to people of Boston, 
18; a member of the General 
Assembly, 18; to receive 
money for buoys and sig- 
nals, 19; secretary of Com- 
mittee of Correspondence, 
19; on committee concerning 
western lands, 19; one of six 
to confer with upper house, 
20; sent to Philadelphia 
to Continental Congress, 
20; sent to Philadelphia to 
represent Connecticut, 21; 
writes to Governor Trum- 
bull, 21; leaves Wethers- 
field for Congress, 21; the 
escort of, 22; arrival in 
New York of, 22; letters to 
his wife from, 23 ff.; is 
pleased with other delegates, 
25; proud to represent Con- 
necticut, 26; writings of, 27; 
elected to second Congress, 
28; raises money for taking 
of Fort Ticonteroga, 28; is 
put on many important com- 
mittees, 29; makes rules for 
Continental navy, 29; mem- 
ber of the Committee of 
Secrecy, 29; chairman of 
Committee of Ways and 
Means, 30; appointed to 
send letter to Canada, 30; 
appointed to make rules 
and drafts for army, 30; 
on committee for inquiries 
about ore, 30; on committee 
to import arms and ammu- 
nition, 30; on committee for 
provisions for army, 30; 
debates taken part in by, 31 ; 
his acquaintance with George 
Washington, 32; letters to 
his wife, 32 et seq.; the 
valedictory of, 34, 35; failure 
to election for third term at 
Congress, 35; letter to his 



Index 



277 



Deane, Silas {Continued) 
wife, 36; goes to New York 
to buy a ship, 36; last letter 
to wife from Congress, 37; 
explains making of guns to 
committee, 38; ammunition 
sent from France by, 39; 
chosen to go to France to 
ask for help, 41 ; letter to 
wife, before sailing, 43; jour- 
ney _ to France of, 43, 44; 
advice from the committee 
to, 44 fi.; instructions and 
advice from the committee 
to, 44 ff.; has interview with 
M. Vergennes, minister of 
French affairs, 49; sends 
letter to Committee of Cor- 
respondence, 50, 51 ; waits on 
M. Dubourg, 52; is success- 
ful in his mission to France, 
53; letter from, 61; Arthur 
Lee enraged against, 63; 
Lee tells many lies about, 
65; seeks money to settle 
Beaumarchais' claims, 70; 
writes to Congress, 70; letter 
to Congress, 72; letter to 
Committee of Congress from, 
74; signs agreement with 
General Coudray, 76; writes 
to Committee of Secret 
Correspondence, 78; writes 
committee concerning Comte 
de Broglie, 79; much per- 
plexed at not hearing from 
Congress, 80; writes commit- 
tee of Lafayette, 84; sends 
Baron Steuben to America, 
84; writes to a French firm, 
85; writes Secret Committee 
of uneasiness, 86; writes 
committee, 87; writes to 
committee of ammunition 
sent, 88; Arthur Lee ap- 
pointed to serve with, 89; 
gives good results as com- 
missioner, 91; position in 
France of, 92; writes of 
Franklin's arrival in Paris 



93; with Franklin at Passy, 
97; Lee recommends sending 
to Holland of, 98; writes, 99; 
and Arthur Lee, 99, 100; 
misfortunes of, 100, loi; 
buys and forwards supplies, 
102; goes to Fontainebleau 
for money, 103; gets the 
money, 104; writes, 106; 
signs treaty at Passy, 107; 
tries to secure loan from 
Holland, 108; recalled to 
America, 108; writes Dumas, 
109; death of wife of, 109; 
calls on Vergennes, 112; ur- 
ges strong squadron, 113; 
urges declaration of treaties 
to Court of London, 113; 
goes to Louis XVI, 113; calls 
on Madame de Lafayette, 
114; dines with M. Ver- 
gennes, 114; starts for the 
coast, 114; Lee's efforts to 
get him into trouble, 115; 
troubles between Lee and, 
117 ff.; writes to Vergennes, 
118; bearer of a letter from 
Franklin to Congress, 124; 
Beaumarchais writes to Con- 
gress of, 125; friends offer 
sympathy on his recall, 127 
ff.; receives gold box, 129; 
reaches Philadelphia, 133; 
reaches Delaware Bay, 134; 
welcomed by friends, 135; 
goes to Congress, to report, 
135; accusations against, by 
Izard, 136; hears of conspir- 
acy against him, 137; again 
writes Congress, 137; Izard's 
letter complaining of, 138; 
replies to charges, 138 ff.; 
goes before Congress, 140 ff. ; 
people for and against, 144; 
speech in Philadelphia by, 
144 ff. ; no attempts made by 
Congress to clear, 147; card 
in Packet by, 148; profitless 
discussion by, 149; replies 
to some of Lee's charges, 



278 



Index 



Deane, Silas (Continued) 
151; writes to Congress, 
155; sends a memorial to 
Congress, 157; leaves for 
France, 158; writes of Phila- 
delphia, 158; in France 
again, 160; unsuccessful at- 
tempt to clear his name, 161 ; 
Morris writes about, 160 ff.; 
writes to Joseph Webb, 164; 
outline of case of, 164, 165; 
receives letter from Morris, 
165; still in good standing in 
France, 166; depreciation of 
property of, 168; letter from 
Jay to, 168; writes to John 
Paul Jones, 171; letter to 
Vergennes concerning, 171; 
receives letter from John 
Jay, 173; writes to Congress, 
175; receives letter from 
Morris, 176; sends account 
to Philadelphia, 177; letter 
to, from Beaumarchais, 178, 
179; writes to James Wilson, 
180; writes to Benj. Tall- 
madge, 181 ; writes to friends 
in America, 182; writes to 
Col. Duer, 183; letters of, 
taken by British and pub- 
lished, 183; worried about 
our commerce, 185; writes 
to J. Wads worth, 187; 
writes to General Parsons, 
188 ; writes to Charles Thom- 
son, 188; fears for his 
country, 189; writes to 
James Wilson, 190; writes 
to Jesse Root, 190; explains 
change of opinion, 190; 
broods over independency of 
America, 190; writes Tall- 
madge, 191; writes to Gen. 
Parsons, 191; writes James 
Wilson, 194; complains to 
Jay of newspapers, 194; 
fears America will suffer 
from French army, 195; 
hears his letters have been 
published, 195; writes to 



Trumbull, 195; Jay warned 
against, 196; letter from 
Wadsworth to, 196; writes 
Edward Bancroft, 197; in- 
terviews with Elkanah Wat- 
son, 198; views about, 199; 
a plea for him, 200; letter 
from King George about, 
200, 201 ; thought in pay of 
British, 201 ; enemies enjoy 
his intercepted letters, 202; 
Tallmadge writes to, 203; 
writes of his illness, 203; 
Franklin writes concerning, 
203, 204; writes concerning 
Arnold, 204, 205; newspaper 
abuses of, 206; writes of his 
poverty, 207; letters to 
brothers intercepted, 208; 
writes to Bancroft, 208; 
letter from Jay to, 209, 210; 
writes to M. Chaumont, 
210; replies to Jay's letter, 
211; story of his exile in 
Ghent, 213; advises law- 
makers of Connecticut, 215; 
writes James Wilson, 216; 
unhappy experiences in 
London, 217; studies ma- 
chines, 221 ; tries to see Jay, 
221; writes to Thomas Bar- 
clay, 221; sends issue to 
people of United States, 
221 ff.; Isone does not help 
him with people, 229 ; corre- 
spondence with Jay, 229 ff . ; j 
commercial charges against, i 
23 1 ; accused of defraud- 
ing the Webbs, 231; tours 
among manufacturing towns, 
233 ; charges made by Henry 
Laurens against, 234; answer, 
Laurens against, 234; an- 
swers Laurens ' s charges ,235; 
received by Laurens, 235; | 
finds Laurens is in conspir- * 
acy against, 235; writes of 
Laurens, 237; calls on Lau- 
rens, 238; Izard's letter 
about, 238; Laurens asks his 



Index 



279 



Deane, Silas {Continued) 
advice, 239; letter from 
Morris to, 241; has to beg 
money from brother, 242; 
gives up hope of receiving 
justice, 242; writes stepson 
S. B. Webb, 244; plans 
navigation canal, 244; writes 
Lord Suffield of his illness, 
245 ff. ; asks for money to go 
away, 247; writes Wads- 
worth, 250; writes George 
Washington, 251; writes 
William S. Johnson, 252; 
embarks for America, 252; 
death of, 252; burial notice 
of, 253; notice in Gentleman' s 
Magazine about, 254; article 
by Reverend Withers, 256; 
Jay's letter to, 259; Morris's 
letter to, 259, 260; vindica- 
tion by Congress of, 260; 
memorial of, given to Con- 
gress, 261 ; full description of 
troubles given to Congress, 
261 ff.; money belonging to, 
paid to heirs of, 264; posi- 
tion in history of, 265 ff.; 
writes to brother Simeon, 
166, 172, 177, 188, 215, 220, 
232 ; writes to John Jay, 167, 
168, 174, 177, 180, 230, 251; 
writes to Robert Morris, 88, 
183, 191; writes to brother 
Barnabas, 142, 164, 173, 
179, 180, 193, 194, 216, 248, 
249; writes Franklin, 218, 
219, 221; letter to Beau- 
marchais, 75, 219; 8, 71, 73, 
82, 96, 102, 175 

Deane, Simeon, letters to, 
from Silas, 166, 172, 177, 
188, 215, 220, 232; 248 

Declaration of Independence, 
73, 86, 228 

Deerfield, 2 

Delaware Bay, fleet to, 113; 
Deane reaches, 134 

Dickinson, John, 31, 130, 138, 
189 



Doniel, M., 108 

Dorchester, Lord, Governor 
of Quebec, 244; approves 
Deane 's plans, 249 

Duane, Deane 's name coupled 
with, 180; 195 

Dubourg, M,, Deane carries 
letter to, 44, 52 ; willingness 
to help America, 52; indis- 
creet talking done by, 53 

Duche, Reverend Mr., prayer 
by, 27 

Duer, Col. William, friend of 
Lee, 121; Deane's letter to, 
183; 156,237 

Dumas, C. W. F., Deane 
writes, 109 

Dumas, M., agent of the" col- 
onies in Holland, 48 

Dunkirk, 119 

Durand, writes of Beaumar- 
chais and Lee, 56; referred 
to, 107; 

Durkee, head of force, 15 

Dyer, Eliphalet, a delegate 
for Connecticut, 21; joins 
Deane, 22; elected to second 
Congress, 28 ; 37 

Edinburgh, Lee in, 97 

Elijah, referred to, 267 

England, trade with, 11; at 
war with Holland, 172; in- 
crease of navy, 188; strength 
of, 190; Deane travels in, 
234; political situation in, 
250; newspapers in, 255; 88, 
191 

English Ministry, Deane and, 

Eton, Lee m, 97 
Europe, 106 

Fabius, 94 

Faubourg du Temple, 64 

Fier Roderique, a man-of-war, 

70 
Figaro, Le Mariage ^e, 54 
Finances of the Revolution, by 

Sumner, 161 



28o 



Index 



Fitch, Geo., protects Ingersoll, 

15 

Flamand, The, sailing of, 90 

Florence, 268 

Florida, 186 

Folger, Captain, 235 

Fox, Charles James, speaks of 
treaty, 107; 146, 212 

Fontainebleau, Deane goes to, 
103 

France, arms sent from, 39; 
mission of Deane to, 40; 
Congress looks for help from, 
41; Deane offers commerce 
to, 45; Turgot against help- 
ing America, 57; benefits to, 
through colonies' freedom, 
58; lends money to, 60; 
receives no announcement of 
Declaration of Independence, 
86; scientific activity in, 92; 
Austin arrives in, no; 
Court of, 131; Deane returns 
to, 160; grows wary, 190; 
Deane considered enemy of, 
198; Deane's mission to, 
258; 47, 105, 172, 191 

Francy, M., sent to America, 
67 

Franklin, on committee to 
inquire about ore, 30; opposes 
asking for help, 41; sends 
Deane to France, 41, 42; 
sends letters by Deane, 44; 
friendship for M. Dubourg, 
52; letters to, from Deane, 
61, 204, 218, 221; insists on 
payment of notes, 70; writes 
to Lovell, 76; opposed to 
Steuben, 84; Deane's work 
with, 89; in Paris, 93; 
writes daughter, 96; meets 
Austin, no; presented to 
Louis XVI, 113; accounts 
given to, 114; Lee writes of, 
115; joins Deane, 118; Lee's 
charges against, 123; writes 
Congress of Deane, 124; 
Lee writes of, 131; letter of, 
135; National party, 142; 



report of, is confirmed, 144; 
Lovell writes to, 150; Deane 
quotes, 152; writes to Lee, 
154; Deane goes to, 158; 
Deane returns to, 158; Mor- 
ris writes to, 162; away from 
Congress, 188; writes of 
Deane to Livingston, 203; 
writes of Deane to Morris, 
204; certificate of, 206; 
writes Lord Howe, 228; Iz- 
ard writes of, 238; testimony 
of Deane by, 259; 35, 66, 92, 
102, 113, 130, 134, 140, 143, 
156, 160, 161, 165, 184, 191, 
222, 223, 260, 265, 267 

Frederick the Great, Steuben 
under, 84; Franklin com- 
pared to, 96 

French West India Islands, 86 

Garfield, 267 

Gates, General, bears letter 

from Deane, 33 
General Assembly, 18 
Gentleman's Magazine, The, 

Deane's death notice in, 

254 

George, King, letter of, quoted, 
201 ; defends Deane, 202 

Gerard, Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs, 53; Deane meets, 
114; writes Vergennes, 116; 
champion for Franklin, 123; 
French Minister to America, 
133; met by delegation, 133; 
writes Vergennes, 143; de- 
fends Deane, 146; describes 
R. H. Lee, 151 ; 129, 143, 156, 
158, 161 

Germany, Lee travels in, 97; 

84, 145 
Gerry, 262 
Ghent, Deane in, 181, 195,213; 

193, 217, 262 
Gibraltar, trade with, 11 
Glynn, 117 
Grand, Frederick, gives Deane 

accounts, 114; Deane writes 

of illness to, 203; 104, 223 



Index 



281 



Gravesend, Deane's death at, 

252; 257 
Great Britain, 186 
Great River, thoroughfare for 

shipping, II 
Green Mountain Boys and 

Col. Ethan Allen, 29 
Groton, Silas Deane from, 3 

Hamburg, H6tel de, Franklin 

lodges at, 95 
Hamilton, Alexander, examines 

Beaumarchais' claims, 71 
Hancock, John, Deane writes, 

135 ; National party, 142 ; 129 
Harris, Sir Robert, 218 
Harrison, 130 
Hartford, and Wethersfield, 

3; weekly paper from, 5; 

views on the Revolution, 13; 

delegates from, 14; Ingersoll 

starts for, 15; 248 
Havana, 2 

Havre de Grace, 88, 119 
Henry of Prussia, Prince, 

Steuben carries letters from, 

84 
Hill's Tavern, Deane puts up 

at, 22 
Holdimand, Governor of Que- 
bec, 244 
Holker, Deane negotiates with, 

102; Lee writes of, 122; 119 
Holland, Deane advised to go 

to, 48; Lee travels in, 97; 

Lee seeks help from, 102; 

will not lend money, 177; 

108, 131, 139, 172, 256 
Hooker, Thomas, theory of 

government, 13 
Hopkins, General, of Maryland, 

86 
Horse Guard of Connecticut, 

the governor's, 91 
Hortalez & Co. See Rode- 

rique, Hortalez & Co. 
Hosmer, a member of Congress, 

137; explanation of, 149; 235 
Howe, Lord, Franklin writes, 

228 



Howe, Gen., 103 

Independent Empire, 46 

Ingersoll, Jared, stamp-master 
14; resigns as stamp-master, 
16 

"Intercepted Letters," publi- 
cation and scandal of, 182, 
225 

Ireland, New England trade 
with, 11; flaxseed from, 186 

Irwin, assists Deane, 245; 247 

Isham, Charles, defends Deane, 
201 

Izard, Ralph, friend of Lee, 
121; Lee writes of, 131; 
letters from, 136; Deane 
answers charges of, 137; is 
recalled, 144; writes of 
Deane, 238; 96, 142, 156, 
175. 235. 240 

Jay, John, on committee to 
send letter to Canada, 30; 
sends Deane to France, 41, 
42; writes Beaumarchais, 69; 
Deane writes to, 88, 167, 
168, 174, 177, 180, 194, 207, 
211, 212, 230, 251; Morris 
writes to, 160; writes Deane, 
168, 173, 209; Livingston 
writes of Deane to, 196; 
Deane miSvSes seeing, 221; 
correspondence with Deane, 
229; chosen president of 
Congress, 241 ; opinion of 
Deane, 259; 31, 35, 130, 184, 
265 

Jefferson, Thomas, writes of 
Vergennes, 58; declines to 
go to France, 89; National 
party, 142; no longer mem- 
ber of Congress, 189; 30, 92 

Jennings, Mr., Lee writes of, 

131 

Jerome of Prague, referred to, 

268 
John the Baptist, referred to, 

267 
Johnson, Joshua, 172, 262 



282 



Index 



Johnson, William S., Deane 

writes, 252 
Jones, Paul, Captain of the 

Ranger, iii; Deane writes, 

171 
Jones, Sir William, 117 

Knox, confers with De Grasse, 

193 
Kalb, see De Kalb 

Lafayette, in command of 
French soldiers, 39; De Kalb 
embarks with, 83; commis- 
sioned by Deane , 84 ; 9 1 , 1 34, 

193 

Lafayette, Madame de, com- 
missioners call on, 114 

Langdon, John, accusations by 
Lee against, 99; 115 

Laurens, Henry, friend of Lee, 
121; president of Congress, 
135. 155 J enemy of Deane, 
156; writes to Livingston, 
231; accuses Deane, 234; in 
conspiracy against Deane, 
235; Deane answers charges 
of, 235-240 

L'Orient, vessels sailing from, 
captured by British, 182 

Le Ray, M., Deane has letter 
to, 44 

Ledlie, Mr., Deane writes of, 
24 

Lee, Mr. Arthur, agent of the 
colonies in London, 49 ; a law 
student, 55 ; writes the Secret 
Committee, 56; Beaumar- 
chais writes, 56; schemes of, 
59; plays part of lago, 63; 
lies of, 65; keeps lying to 
Congress, 67 ; appointed 
commissioner, 89; arrives 
in Paris, 89; Deane's work 
with, 89; arrives in Passy, 
97; nominated Franklin's 
successor, 98; writes false 
charges against Franklin, 
98; writes his brothers and 
Adams, 98; Deane writes of, 



106; treachery of, 107; cor- 
respondence with Congress 
of, 107; as traitor, 107; pre- 
sented to Louis XVI, 113; 
accounts given to, 114; and 
Beaumarchais , 115; disap- 
pointment of, 115; attacks 
Franklin and Deane, 115; 
temperament of, 116 ff.; 
comes to Paris, 118; joins 
Deane, 118; consulted about 
contracts, 119; criticism of 
Deane by, 119; jealousy of , 
120; selfishness of, 121; 
charges against Deane by, 
121 ff. ; Beaumarchais writes 
of, 125; writes brother, 131, 
134; letters of, 136; Deane 
answers charges of, 137; 
Adams friendly to, 143; 
Gerard writes of, 143; is re- 
called, 144; Deane writes of , 
145 ff.; Franklin writes to, 
154; Nicholson writes of, 
156; schemes of, 132; Deane 
writes of, 167; Jones suffers 
from, 171; accounts of, 177; 
Deane accuses, 222; letter 
from, 241; 62, 75, 92, 102, 
112, 120, 130, 139, 142, 151, 
160, 165, 235, 262, 264, 265 
Lee, Richard Henry, brother 
to Arthur, 97, 121; Arthur 
writes to, 121, 131; 146, 

151 

Lee, William, the Alderman, 
131; is recalled, 144; Deane 
writes of, 145; letter to 
Samuel Thorpe, 206; 235 

Leibnitz, Franklin compared 
with, 96 

Lewis, 236 

Lexington, battle of , 38 

Lisb6n, slave markets in, 4; 
trade with, 1 1 

Livingston, R. R., National 
party, 142; writes Jay of 
Deane, 196; Franklin writes 
of Deane to, 203; Laurens 
writes to, 231; 236 



Index 



283 



London, Deane in, 215; Deane 

confined in, 248 
Long Wharf, in Boston, no 
Louis XVI; recognizes Repub- 
lic, 112; commissioners pre- 
sented to, 113; 45, 56, 57, 

255 
Louisburg, 2 
Lovell, James, Franklin writes 

to, 76; recalls Deane, 108; 

letter from, 114; writes to 

Franklin, 130, 150 
Luther, referred to, 267, 268 

Madison, James, writes of 
Vergennes, 58; National par- 
ty, 142 

Madrid, French ambassador 
at, 60; Court of, 156; 131 

March, Rev. John, 8 

Marine Committee, 261 

Marseilles, 141 

Martinico, 149 

Martinique, 165 

Maryland, 63 

Mason, no longer member of 
Congress, 189 

Massachusetts, tries to drop 
importation of goods, 16; 
Franklin agent for, 97; 26 

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 13 

Massachusetts Council, no 

Maurepas, head of the Cabinet, 

57 
Maurepas, Count, 51 
Maurice, 236 
May, Deacon, 5 
McFingal, by John Trumbull, 

199 
McHenry, 262 
Mercure, The, carries arms, 90; 

226 
Mercury, The, fate of, 149 
Middletown, Col. Parsons of, 

28 
Middletown, i 
Mill Brook, first grist mill 

built in, 6 
Minister of the Court, 76 
Mohawks, 2 



Montheu, Lee writes of, 122; 
119 

Morris, Robert, member of 
Committee of Ways and 
Means, 30; Washington 
writes to, 40; sends Deane 
to France, 41, 42; letters to, 
from Deane, 61, 80, 84, 85, 
88, 177, 191 ; letters to Deane 
from, 89, 165, 176, 241; Na- 
tional party, 142; defends 
Deane, 148; writes of Deane, 
160, 161; writes to Deane, 
162; writes Franklin, 162; 
Deane's letter to, 183; 
Franklin writes of Deane to, 
204; Beaumarchais writes of 
Deane to, 205; Superintend- 
ent of Finances, 216; opinion 
of Deane, 259; 30, 35, 130, 
138, 184, 236, 263, 265, 268 

Morris, Thomas, brother of 
Robert, 88 

Nantes, Austin leaves, no; 
64, 88, 106, 119, 141, 145, 

175 

National party, 142 

Naval Committee, sends Deane 

to New York, 36 
Navigation Act, 184, 219, 228 
Netherlands, Deane starts for, 

177 
New Hampshire, ships reach, 

90 
New Haven, Jared Ingersoll of, 

14; opposition to Stamp Act 
, in, 15 
New London, opposition to 

/Stamp Act in, 15; Deane to 

go to, 36 
New Materials on American 

War, by Durand, 107 
New York, coach from Boston, 

to, 5; hats sold in, 8; trade 

with, II; Deane arrives in, 

22, in hands of British, 105; 

Deane's letters published 

in, 195; 91 
Newfoundland, 186 



284 



Index 



Newport, merchants against 

Connecticut, i8; in hands of 

British, 105; 
Newton, FrankHn compared to, 

96 
Nicholas, no longer member 

of Congress, 189 
Nicholson, Mr. S., writes Car- 

michael, 156 
North, Lord, writes of Deane, 

200; 55, 108, 217 
Nova Scotia, 186 

Oldham, John, goes to Py- 
quag, I 

Packet, Philadelphia, Deane 
writes in, 144; Paine writes 
in, 148 

Paine, Thomas, Deane debates 
with, 31; friend of Lee, 121; 
Secretary of Committee, 148 ; 
answers Morris, 148; Deane 
answers, 148; attacks Deane, 
150; uses letters against 
Deane, 202; 151, 156, 175 

Paris, Deane arrives in, 44; 
Steuben visits, 84; Lee ar- 
rives in, 89; Franklin in, 93; 
Deane in, 166, 176; Deane's 
fruitless year in, 178; Deane 
longs to go to, 208; 73 

"Paris Letters," see "Inter- 
cepted Letters" 

Parliament, complaints against, 
20; 107 

Parsons, General S. H., Deane 
writes, 28, 188, 191 

Parton, writes of Franklin, 94 

Passy, Franklin lives in, 95; 
treaty signed at, 107; Austin 
goes to, no; 67, 93 

Pendleton, no longer member 
of Congress, 189 

Pennsylvania, hostilities of 
Virginia and, 190 

Pequots, 2 

Perch, sailing of, no 

Philadelphia, Continental Con- 
gress held in, 20; in hands 



of the British, 105; Deane 
reaches, 133; Deane's long 
wait in, 140; 28, 115, 224 

Philadelphia Packet, see Packet 

Plato, 94 

Portland, Duke of, 218 

Portugal, 47, 186 

Portsmouth, ships reach, 90; 
John Langdon of, 100; Am- 
phitrite arrives at, loi ; car- 
goes reach safely, 108; 91, 
130, 226 

Prague, Jerome of, referred to, 
268 

Priestly, Dr., 234, 257 

Prussia, 120 

Putnam, Gen. Israel, Deane 
writes of, 34; deplores the 
Revolution, 268 

Pulaski, 91, 134 

Pyquag, Oldham goes to, i 

Pyrenees, Deane goes over the, 
44 

Quebec, governors of, 244; 2 

Randolph, president of Con- 
gress, 27 

Rayneval, Gerard de, see 
Gerard 

Reed, Joseph, accusation by 
Lee against, 99; 115 

Republic, its debt to Deane, 
265 

Revolution, The, 265 

Rivingtons, The, Deane's let- 
ters published by, 183; 196 

Robbins, Jonathan, Capt. buys 
shoes, 7 

Rochambeaux, confers with 
De Grasse, 193; 193 

Rochford, Lord, sent to count- 
eract Deane, 50 

Roderique, Hortalez & Co., 
Deane to do business with, 
53 ; forming of , 61 ; straits of, 
66; Deane does business 
with, 73; 64, 100, 126, 128 

Rodney, 180 



Index 



285 



Root, Jesse, Deane writes to, 
190 

Royal Gazette, The, Deane's 
letters in, 183, 196; 262 

Ruffec, De Broglie's country- 
seat, 83 

Russell, Mr., 234 

Russia, 139, 186 

St, Denis, Beaumarchais born 

in, 54 
St. Domingo, 56, 226 
St. Francis, 57 
St. George's churchyard and 

Deane's grave in, 253 
St. Lawrence, Deane's plan 

for, 244 
Sabatier, Lee writes of, 122; 

Deane unable to settle with, 

177 
Safety, Committee of, 39 
Saltonstall, Elizabeth, second 

wife of S. Deane, 3 
Saltonstall, Gurdon, 109 
Saratoga, Burgoyne's surren- 
der at, 39, 90, no; 130, 

226 
Savannah, blacks for, 5; 38 
Savonarola, referred to, 268 
Saybrook Bar, buoys erected 

in, 19 
Schuyler, Col., Deane writes 

of, 33; 29 
Schuylkill, Deane rides to, 33; 
Coudray drowned in the, 

78 

Scotland, 88 

Scylla, 189 

Searles, 174 

Sebor, Jacob B., Deane writes 
to, 196 

Secrecy, Committee of, Deane 
a member of, 29 

Secret Correspondence, Com- 
mittee of, forming of, 41; 
letter from, 45; does not 
reply to Beaumarchais, 62; 
Deane writes to, 84; Deane 
writes for word from, 86; 
Deane writes for shipments, 



d>7', Deane writes of ship- 
ments, 88; Deane agent for, 
92; behind Deane, 117; 138, 
178 

Secretary to the King, Beau- 
marchais buys office of , 54 

Seine, The, 149 

Seven Years' War, 57, 81 

Shelbourne, Lee writes to, 107; 
145,212 

Sherman, Judge Roger, a dele- 
gate for Connecticut, 21; 
joins Deane and Dyer, 22; 
description by Deane of, 
23; elected to second Con- 
gress, 28; Deane debates 
with, 31 

Soheag, Indian chieftain, i 

Sons of Liberty, 14 

South Carolina, delegates 
from, 23 

Spain, Deane lands in, 43; Lee 
seeks help from, 102; Court 
of, 131; unfriendly to Amer- 
ica, 177; 47, 145, 172, 186, 
191 

Spanish King, promises money 
to America, 60 

Sparks, referred to, 58; writes 
of Lee, 63; referred to, 97 

Stamp Act, opposition to, 14 

States Rights party, 142 

Steuben, Baron, commissioned 
by Deane, 84; 91, 134 

Stormont, British ambassador 
to France, 93; leaves for 
London, 113 

Strassburg, 119, 141 

Suffield, Lord, author of a 
pamphlet, 218; Deane writes 
to, 245; 231 

Sumner, Prof. W. G., referred 
to, 161 

Superintendent of Finance, 
Morris made, 177 

Susquehanna claims, settle- 
ment of, 19 

Sweden, 186 

Sydney, Lord, approves 
Deane's plans, 249; 245, 247 



286 



Index 



Tallmadge, Benjamin, Deane 

writes to, i8i, 191, 195; 

writes Deane, 203 
Temple, The, Lee studies law 

in, 97 
Theodosiiis, etc., by Rev. 

Philip Withers, 256 
Thomson, Charles, Deane 

writes, 188 
Thorpe, Samuel W., Lee writes 

to, 206 
Ticonteroga, Fort, capture of, 

28; money raised for taking 

of fort, 28; 2 
Tories, 266 
Toulon, 113, 115 
Townsend, J. T., Bancroft 

writes, 247; 212 
Treat, Parson, Deane writes 

of, 24 
Trent Town, Deane in, 25 
Trumbull, J. H., 28; letter to 

Deane from, 35; author of 

McFingal, 199 
Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan, 

Deane writes to, 21, 195; 

27 
Turgot, French Minister of 

Finance, 57 

United States, Deane sends 
address to, 221 

Valfort, M. de, 83 
Valley Forge, soldiers in, 189 
Vergennes, M., Minister of 
French Affairs, 49; adopts 
cause of America, 57 ; reasons 
for helping colonies, 58 ; backs 
Beaumarchais, 61; Deane 
applies to, 61; committee 
writes to, 68; Deane and, 73; 
commissioners call on, 100; 
Deane tries to see, 103; anx- 
ious for treaty, iii; Deane 
calls on, 112; presents com- 
missioners, 113; commission- 
ers dine with, 114; Gerard 
writes, 116; Deane writes 
to, 118; writes Deane, 129; 



Gerard writes to, 143; 56, 65, 

91, 134, 156, 175, 184, 222 
Versailles, Austin goes to, no; 

Deane acceptable at, 120; 

Court of, 156; 49, 54, 94, 139 
Vienna, Court of, 131, 145; 

239 
Ville de Paris, De Grasse's 

flagship, 194 
Virginia, delegates from, please 

Deane, 25; hostilities of 

Pennsylvania and, 190; 62, 

63, 115, 229 
Voltaire compared with, 96 

Wadsworth, Jeremiah, Deane 
writes, 187, 250; writes 
Deane, 196 

Wartburg, Luther in, 268 

Washington, George, buys 
boots in Wethersfield, 7; 
Deane writes of, 27, 32; 
writes Morris, 40; De Kalb 
tries to replace, 82 ; National 
party, 142; confers with De 
Grasse, 193; Deane writes, 
251; 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 35, 
80, 83, 161, 188, 189, 193. 
227, 229, 267, 270 

Watertown, Oldham leads ad- 
venturers from, I 

Watson, Ebenezer, of the 
Courant, 29 

Watson, Elkanah, interview 
with Deane, 198; writes 
opinion of Deane, 198, 199 

Ways and Means, Committee 
of, Deane a member of, 30 

Webb, David, appointed to 
prevent importation, 17 

Webb, Joseph, Deane writes 
to, 164 

Webb, Mehitabel, marries 
Silas Deane, 3 

Webb, Samuel B., stepson of 
Deane, 22; on Washington's 
staff, 22; Deane writes, 244 

Wedderbum, sent to counter- 
act Deane, 51 

West India Islands, French, 86 



Index 



287 



West Indies, blacks for, 5; pipe 
staves shipped to, 7; trade 
with, 11;, 26, 221, 228, 229 

Wethersfield, the settling of , i ; 
first century of, 2; Silas 
Deane comes to, 2; popula- 
tion of, 3, 4; slaves in, 4; life 
in, 5 ; first grist mill in, 6 ; tan- 
neries in, 6; industries of, 
6 ff.; crops in, 8; distilleries 
in, 9; fruit in, 9; views on the 
Revolution, 13; delegates of, 
14; Ingersoll's visit to, 15; 
people show opposition to 
King George, 16; meeting 
held in, 17; people of, sympa- 
thize with Boston, 18; pride 
in Deane of, 21; death of 
Mrs. Deane in, 109; 25 

Wilkinson, assists Deane, 245 

Williams, Elias, appointed to 
prevent importation, 17 

Williams, Elisha, appointed to 
prevent importation, 17; 4 

Williams, Ephraim, account 
book of, 6 



Williams, Ezekiel, appointed 

to prevent importation, 17 
Williams, Israel, Col., 6 
Williams, Jonathan, letter of, 

175 
Wilson, James, Deane writes 

to, 180, 194, 216 
Wilton, James, Deane writes, 

190 
Windham, opposition to Stamp 

Act in, 15 
Windsor, views on the Revolu- 
tion, 13; delegates of, 14 
Winthrop, referred to, i, 2; 

reaction against, 13 
Withers, Rev. Philip, supposed 

author of Theodosius, etc. 

256 
Wyllys, Col. Samuel, 28 
Wythe, no longer member of 

Congress, 189 

Yorktown, surrender of Com- 
wallis at, 39; De Grasse at, 
191; Washington in com- 
mand at, 193; 268 



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